Christmas Wish
by Sweet June Rain
Summary: A lot of people makes wishes on during the holidays, right? Little children and grieving parents are no exception to this rule. Two worlds collide during the holiday seasons and hopefully, it's all for the better. AU, OCs, OOCs, it's a Babe! BONUS CHAPTER!
1. Chapter 1

Woah, woah, what the hey? A new story? Well, it's a holiday story, I've always wanted to write one, and here it is, let's go!

Warnings will be posted in each chapter.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but a few OCs, and this story idea and my bed sheets. The other things belong to Janet. If it was up to me, I would be like, Babe all day erry day.

Enjoy!

* * *

_Christmas Wish_

_Chapter 1_

_The North Pole_

* * *

Quaker Bridge Mall always went out for Christmas. Christmas, Easter and The Fourth of July, those were the biggest customer bringers to the Mall. Christmas more so than the other two holidays. Quaker Bridge went out for Christmas, with style. They put up a Christmas village in the middle of the mall, close to the entrance of Macy's. There was a cabin to Santa's workshop, a place to take a picture with Santa and elves and reindeer plus a little area where children can write letters to Santa. There was even a large merry-go-round for the kids and their parents to ride as well. Quaker Bridge made sure that this season would be one of the best. They wanted to be sure that when children walked to the entrance of the 'Little North Pole,' they would be wowed.

The little girl standing in front of said entrance was one of those children entranced by the wonderland. She looked around, with big amber eyes at the place and then stopped, almost hesitating to walk into the place. She bit her lip, frowned and then squared her little shoulders and begin to march into the 'Little North Pole,' her face determined. She was on a mission, she couldn't fail.

She marched past the reindeer and elves, past Santa and the area to take pictures and past the giant ride with the horses. She did look at it twice, but she was on a mission. She found where she wanted to go by a group of Santa's elves. There were small tables everywhere, where children sat, writing letters to Santa about what they want for Christmas. She had heard, once, that if good children wrote to Santa, then they would get whatever the wanted. She had been really good and she didn't want much. Maybe Santa will give her what she wanted.

The girl looked around, biting her lip, unsure of what she had to do. She walked over to an elf and tugged on their shirt saying, in a soft, "'Cuse me…I wanna write a letter to Santa, pwease?"

The elf smiled brightly and said, "Well sure!" The elf frowned looking down at the girl, "Where are you parents, sweetie?"

"They're over there," the girl pointed to a crowd of parents, talking and pointing in their direction, "They say I can be here 'lone."

"Well, okay," The elf lead her to a table and set her up with cute Christmas themed paper and crayons. The girl thanked her again, picked up a crayon in her hand and began the long process of writing a letter to Santa. It was hard, she really didn't know how to spell most of the words, nearly all of them but she tried her best. She needed Santa to answer her. It took her a while to write it but then, finally she was done. She tried to carefully fold it up and then tucked it away into the envelope. She watched a few other kids do it, it wasn't that hard. She hopped up from the table and followed a group of children to a item where they put their letters in. The girl waited for her turn and then finally was able to put her letter in the slot, well, she tried to, really, she did, but she was too short!

The girl grunted and groaned as she tired to put her letter in. Santa's elves were no where around and she was really didn't want ask anyone for help. She was stuck.

"Hey kid, need some help?" The girl turned and she let out a gasp, looking up at the giant man who stood before her, "Can't get your letter in?"

The girl shook her head, holding the letter tightly to her chest. The man chuckled and asked. "Can I help you get your letter in the mailbox?" The girl nodded her head, "Okay, Little lady! Let's get this letter in the mail!"

The girl let out a squeak as the man lifted her up with ease and turned her to the mailbox. She looked at her letter and then said, in a soft voice, "Pwease…give me what I want," she slipped the letter in and then the man placed her back on the ground.

"There you go!" The man looked down at the girl, with a smile, "I hope Santa gives you what you want!"

"Thank you," The girl said, with a shy smile and then she scurried past the man and out of the 'Little North Pole,' hoping that soon, she would get her wish.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

Lester Santos figured out, right away, that the little girl by the mail box in that cheesy Christmas trap was in need of some help. Not with getting the letter in the mail but she needed some help-help. One thing that he saw was that though it was comfortable in the mall, everyone was in their coats to brave the weather outside. The little girl wore an oversized sweater and shoes that were two big for her. No one even blinked at her attire, no one seemed to care at all.

He had been in the mall, looking for a gifts when he spied the child walking into Santa's village, or whatever. He watched her talk to one of the workers and was directed to where the children could write letters. She spent over an hour writing a letter, she was maybe 4 or 5, writing words might be a little hard for kids at that age. He watched her as she got up and rushed over to the mailbox. He watched her struggle to put the letter she wrote in it before he walked over to help her put the mail in the mailbox. She was thin, not too painfully thing but she was thin, when he lifted her up. When was the last she had a good meal?

The child thanked him and ran off. Lester should have left it there, but he was a good guy, and she was in need. He did what he knew what to do best, he followed her, trailed after her all day. She didn't leave the mall, she walked around the place, several times, sat and people watched and then walked around again. No one came up to her, no one tried to ask her questions. She avoided the food court and he couldn't blame her, if she was hungry, being exposed to the smell of food must drive her crazy and he understood it.

She stayed at the mall all day until finally it got dark and the mall was closing. The girl left the mall, with everyone else and then sat on a bench outside, rubbing her arms in the cold air. Lester, by then had gotten into his car and was debating if he should leave her or not but he couldn't just leave her, he wasn't cruel.

"Hey," Lester pulled the car up to the curb, parking and climbing out of it, walking over to the girl, "What are you doing out here, alone, it's 9PM, kiddies like you should be at home, asleep."

"My Mommy and Daddy will be here soon," The girl looked scared, playing with the sleeves of her oversized sweater and looking around.

"It's freezing out here," Lester said, crouching in front of the girl, "Why don't we wait for your mommy and daddy in my car, okay?"

The girl looked like she wanted to protest but Lester said, "Hey, it's warm in my car, and when your parents come, you can hop right in their car, okay? I won't feel good about leaving you out here, in the car, okay?"

The girl looked over to Lester and slowly nodded her head. Lester smiled and said, "Alright, Kiddo, let's get in the car, I'm freezing!"

The girl took Lester's hand and then Lester had her in the warm car, watching as she leaned back in the seat. Lester pulled into a parking spot the two sat in silence for a while. Lester heard the girl let out a noise of embarrassment as her stomach rumbled loudly. He didn't look at her but he did pat his stomach and say, "Boy, I am starving! I could go for some pancakes, are you hungry? We can get some dinner while we wait for your parents."

"….Okay" The girl looked over to Lester, biting her lip.

"Good, let's go to IHOP, it's on me," Lester said, starting the car and driving out the mall lot, "They have all you eat pancakes now, I hope you're hungry like me!"

* * *

Welp, here it is, I'm off to the trash-heap! See ya!


	2. Chapter 2

Wowzers, thanks for the feedback, I'm at a good place in which I can write again, I'm almost done with my Master's and life is well, boring right now! Now, chapter 2, enjoy!

Warnings: None, except for a cute kid and their antics.

Disclaimer in chapter 1!

Enjoy

* * *

_Christmas Wish_

_Chapter 2_

_No One Should Bury Their Child_

* * *

"Anything you want, it's yours," Lester said to the girl, as they were sat in a booth, "I'm paying, okay?"

Lester's heart clenched at the sight of her big amber eyes getting bigger and her voice, full of shocked said, "Really? Anything?"

"Darn tootin'" Lester chuckled, looking at the menu, "You want pancakes and eggs, you can have them, you want chicken strips, have at it!"

Their server came back, smiling fondly at the girl, giving her a coloring book and crayons and said, "What can I get you two."

"I'll have the all you can eat pancakes and a coffee," Lester said, closing the menu, "How about you, kiddo?"

"….pancakes," she whispered, looking at the coloring book and crayons, "a-and chicken strips, and eggs."

"What do you want to drink, sweetie?" Their server asked, looking at the child, "Milk, soda, a milkshake?"

"…Soda…and a milkshake?" the girl turned to Lester who nodded his head, "I want both, please."

"I think she'll like an orange soda and a chocolate milkshake," he winks at the server and smiles to the girl, "She's got a big appetite, but mine is bigger."

The server blushed and then scurried off to get their drinks. Lester leaned back in his seat, watching the girl pull out the crayons and begin to color. She was coloring wildly, smiling as she did. He couldn't just keep calling her 'Kiddo.' "What's your name?"

The girl looked at him for a long time, before she looked away, putting the crayons down. She looked back at Lester and then said, "I don't think I got one."

Red flag number 2, Lester thought as the girl looked at him, with big eyes. She tilted her head and whispering, "What's a name, I don't think I got one, cause I don't know what it is."

"We'll think of one for you later," Lester said softly, smiling at the girl, "You have to have a name, I have one, my name is Lester, nice to meet you!"

"Lester," the girl picked her crayon up and began coloring again, "Lester is your name!"

"It is!" Lester smiled, just as their server returned with their drinks, "Thank you, madam."

The server smiled at the both of them and left. Lester picked his coffee up and watched as the girl looked at her drinks, with big eyes. He smiled as she picked up the milkshake and dipped her face into the whipped cream that topped it. She lifted her head up and looked at him, "This taste good!" and then went back to burying her face in the milkshake.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"No parent should have to bury their child."

It was something that resonated through Carlos Manoso's mind and has been for a few years. He recalled someone saying that to a set of parents that lost their child at a young age. No parent should bury their child. There had been a time in which he thought he would never experience that, he would never face that trauma.

Carlos walked into the nearly empty bedroom and found his wife there, sitting in the middle of the room, holding a pillow to her chest. She was staring out the large window, with glazed over eyes and was barely breathing.

"Babe," Carlos said, going over to his wife and sitting down beside her, "Stephanie," he placed his hands on her shoulders. He rested his head on hers.

"He was going to be 7 this year," his wife whispered, gripping the pillow tightly, "He would have-" She let out a small sob and looked over to Carlos, "He was going to be 7, I hate this time of year, he loved this time of year."

Carlos nodded his head, "I know, Babe," he hugged Stephanie to him, rubbing her back, "He should be here right now."

They held each other in silence, looking out the window. Stephanie sighed softly and then said, in a soft voice, "No Christmas this year, he's not hear to enjoy it, why should we enjoy it?"

Carlos nodded his head, looking down at Stephanie, "Whatever you want, Stephanie, we'll do it, okay?"

"No family, I can't-" she looked down at the pillow, "I don't think I can handle it, this year," She shuddered, "I'm sorry, Carlos."

"Don't be sorry, it can be just you and me, this year," Carlos ran a hair through Stephanie's curly locks, "I'm happy being with you Babe."

"Will the hurt ever stop?" She whispered, closing her eyes, "Will the hurt ever go away?"

Carlos could feel his own pain, he wanted to know that as well, because this pain was almost maddening, "I don't know, Babe."

"I just want my baby back," Carlos' throat closed and he nodded his head as Stephanie cried In his chest.

He wanted his baby back too.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" Lester sighed, rubbing his face harshly and looking over to the sleeping girl, "What in the hell am I going to do?"

What was he going to do. Lester knew without a doubt, this child had no parents. What was she going to do now, where could she go? Lester wanted to know how in the hell did she get to the mall by herself? Lester looked over to the girl tucked under his coat, sleeping peacefully. She had eaten all her food, and asked for more and then fell asleep in the booth. Lester paid the bill, left a hefty tip, picked the girl up and carried her to the car where they sat now, with this burning question in his head.

What would he do with the girl?

He had a few options. He could take her to the cops, and they could deal with her but…he knew about the child care system, it wasn't nice, even in this day and age. He could look for someone else to take her but there was something inside of him that nagging him, that he shouldn't do that. He could take her back to the mall and be done with her or he could take her with him and he could figure it out.

Lester tapped his fingers and then sighed, turning on his car and ambling out the parking lot of the IHOP. He was going to do something crazy and take the girl with him.

Gods, he hoped that he hadn't just kidnapped a child.

Lester looked over to the sleeping girl and then back to the road. He had zero idea what to do with the kid, he could bathe her and tuck her into bed, at least and worry about it in the morning.

The drive back to Rangeman was a quick one, with it being so late at night, no one was out, or no one was out in the streets with a day job, that is. The seven story building that sat near Hamilton street appeared before him and he made his way into the underground garage. The child didn't even stir once, she was deep asleep. Lester left the presents he bought in the car and grabbed the girl, carrying her to the elevator.

He knew the crew on the cameras were scratching their heads. Or laughing, he didn't know, with the night crew.

Inside the apartment, Lester placed the girl on the couch and then went into his bedroom to grab a shirt. He placed it on the sleeping girl's frame and then made her a bed on the couch. Lester tucked her in and then sat down in the arm chair and sighed, tapping his fingers on the arms.

Oh Lester, oh Lester, what are you going to do? He looked over to the girl and then groaned. He hoped he wasn't getting himself into something stupid, or dangerous.

Lester leaned back in the chair and went to sleep quickly, the deadly combination of pancakes and fatigue knocking him out.

He woke up to the girl sitting on the couch, looking at him. The girl perked up and smiled shyly at him and he returned the smile with his own, "Hey, Kiddo, sleep well?"

The girl gave him a head nod and then looked down at the shirt she wore, she was pretty much swimming in it and asked, "This my shirt now?" Sticking her thumb in her mouth.

"Yeah," Lester said, with a sigh, rubbing his face, trying to get the sleep out his system, "You can have it, kiddo," he got up and looked at the child, "I-"

Lester looked hard at the girl and then to the bedroom. He tossed out her clothes, they were ragged and dirty and he knew they were beyond saving. He ran a hand over his head and said, "Shit, you have no clothes now."

"What's shit?" The girl asked, earning a groan from Lester.

Lester rubbed his face once more, but then a knock on his door had him walking over to it. He looked down and saw Ella standing before him, with a smile on her face, holding a shopping bag. Lester blinked and said, confused, "Uh…"

"The boys on the night crew told me that they saw you come in with a little girl, on the cameras," Ella's eyes gleamed almost madly, "Where is she?"

Lester pointed to the couch, where the girl sat, looking at the two, playing with her wild hair, sucking her thumb. Ella let out a noise in the back of her throat, turned to Lester and whispered, "She's a doll!" rushing inside to greet the girl, "Hello, sweetie!"

"Hi," the girl whispered around her thumb, looking shyly at Ella.

"You are the cutest thing I've ever seen, how old are you?" Ella asked, smiling gently and unpacking the shopping bags to reveal girl clothing and some personal care products for kids.

"I don't know," The girl whispered, earning a coo from Ella.

"That's okay, sweetie, oh, you look like you just woke up, come on, let's go to Lester's bathroom and get ready for the day, we'll make you look pretty!"

"…Like a pwincess?" the child asked, earning another coo from Ella.

"We're going to make you look like the prettiest princess ever!" Ella grabbed the girl's hand and led her off.

Lester shook his head as Ella turned to him and said, "Adorable, she is too cute!" his bedroom door closed the second the two entered it. He sat down in his armchair again and sighed, leaning back against it.

Thank god for Ella.

* * *

Ella knows everything that goes on in Rangeman...lols, reviews are nice! Now, back to the trash heap!


	3. Chapter 3

Took a stupid long nap before bed, now my sleep is shot to hecc, anyways, here's chapter 3

Warnings: None

Disclaimer in chapter 1

Have fun

* * *

_Christmas Wish_

_Chapter 3_

_Dark Places_

* * *

"How's Stephanie, I know how this time of year is for her," Tank started, as he handed Carlos some files, "For both of you."

"I wish I could say she was fine," Carlos said, looking at man before his desk, "I wish I could, but she's-she's not in a good place."

Tank closed the door to the office and sat down, heavily in the chair across from Carlos' desk. He crossed his arms and asked, in a soft voice, "Are both of you going to therapy? It does help."

"It's hard to get her out the house," Carlos leaned back, his hands resting on the desk, "It's been a few years, but, it's like it all happened last night."

He could still hear Stephanie's screams, the sounds of the sirens, the questions from the cops and then utter feeling of losing a part of you that you can't replace, ever again. Carlos closed his eyes and then let out a noise of air, "She asked if the pain will ever go away and I-I can't give her an answer, because it still hurts for me, Tank."

"Hey man," Tank said softly, "I understand, you don't have to explain yourself, what you and Steph went through was extreme and it's something that's going to follow you both."

"I failed as a father, now I'm failing as a husband," Carlos said softly, resting his head in his hands, "I can't get-"

Both Tank and Carlos turned, hearing some commotion coming from the main office floor. Carlos turned to Tank, who cursed a blue streak, "What is going on out there?" Carlos asked as Tank shook his head.

"Santos, has a new friend," Carlos raised an eyebrow, "She's very popular, but, it's hard to get her from under Lester's and Ella's legs."

Carlos stood up and opened his office door. The men were trying to crowd Lester's cubicle, trying to see whatever was in it. Carlos turned to Tank, who shrugged his shoulders, "This isn't going to hinder work productivity, is it?"

"I don't know," Tank responded, shrugging his shoulders, "But, they really, really like her."

Carlos gave Tank a look and then made his way to Lester's cubicle. Carlos shooed his man our the way, some of them were holding stuffed animals and…was that a barbie doll? The men scurried off quickly and then Carlos rounded on Lester, "Santos."

Lester turned to from his screen and blinked, "Bossman yo! It's good to see you out the-"

"Where's your friend?" Carlos asked, earning a sheepish look from the man, "Santos…"

"Look," Lester leaned forward, saying, in a soft voice, "She's-I don't think she has any place to go, please don't-" Lester stopped at the look Carlos gave him and then he sighed and pointed down, under his desk, "She's right here."

Carlos raised an eyebrow and then crouched down to look under Lester's desk. His hard brown eyes softened at what he saw. What he thought was a pet, was actually a little girl, looking back at him with big amber eyes, sucking on her thumb, holding tightly to a ragged stuffed snake. She was the color of soft milk chocolate, with long black hair that were in pigtails. She wore a pink dress with purple striped stocking, her feet in furry boots.

No wonder why his men were trying to see her, Carlos mused, as he looked at the child, "Hello there, you're Lester's friend?"

The girl slowly nodded her head and said, around her thumb, "Yes.." in a soft voice. She leaned against Lester's leg, holding tight to the snake.

"Is he a good friend?" Carlos slowly sat down so that he wasn't crouching over the girl, to make her feel safe.

"Yes…he bought pancakes, and owange soda," She said, taking her thumb out to speak, before she went back to sucking it.

"Well, that's nice of him," Carlos said, and then he looked at the snake, "Who is this?"

"Mr. Hiss," She said around her thumb, "Lester gave him to me."

Mr. Hiss, Carlos remembered that stuffed snake. Lester wouldn't let anyone touch him, even as a teenager. He loved the hell out of that stuffed snake. He thought that Lester lost it, when they all joined the military. Well, maybe he had a hiding spot for the stuffed snake.

Carlos looked up to the Lester, who looked away, his cheeks flushed. Carlos looked back at the girl and said, "Your dress is pretty, who got it for you?"

"Auntie Ella," The girl said, playing with the ruffled ends of her dress, "She said I looked like a pwincess."

"You are a very pretty princess indeed," Carlos nodded his head, "What's your name?"

"Don't got one," she said, sucking on her thumb again.

"How old are you?" The girl shook her head.

"I don't know," Carlos looked up to Lester and then to the girl.

"How about you and Lester come with me to my office, okay?" Carlos asked, standing up, "We can talk some more."

The girl sucked on her thumb, silently and then Lester chuckled and said, "Come on, Kiddo, let's go."

The girl scrambled out from under the desk and was quickly swooped up in Lester's arms. Carlos looked at Lester who held the child close.

"She likes being held, close to people," Lester said as the girl gripped his neck and tucked her head in his shoulder.

Carlos led the two into his office, where Tank still sat. He sat back down and turned to Tank and then to Lester, before asking, "Santos, where did you pick up this girl?"

"So," Lester said as he adjusted the girl in his arms, "I found her at the mall, she was, busy, I helped her out and then I followed her because she was thin, wearing only an oversized sweater and looked like she got there on her own. I couldn't leave her there, she was hungry and cold and-"

"Why didn't you call the police?" Carlos asked, earning a look from Lester, "You might have issues with the system but I'm sure they would take good care of her."

"I didn't want to risk it," Lester said, rubbing the girl's back, "She'll get lost in the system and sometimes, the system- what if she's given to someone who abuses her, what if she-" he covered the girl's ears, "What if she dies?"

Carlos rubbed his chin, looking at Lester and then to the girl, who looked at the three men, clinging to Lester. Her gaze lingered on Carlos and his heart constricted at the sight of her sucking her thumb, staring at him. A child her age should be loud and boisterous. She hardly made a sound and clung to Lester like a lifeline, like he would leave her alone and she didn't want that.

"Give her a name, at least," Carlos said folding his arms, "You can't keep calling her kiddo and girl, has she seen Bobby yet? You said she's skin and bones, did she eat breakfast-"

"Carlos," Lester held his hands up, "Carlos, my man, I'm working on it, we're working on a name now, it's an important thing, can't just name her anything, and Bobby is going to be checking on her soon, you know it's physical time around Rangeman. Ella feeds her often and she's taken care of her clothing and got her some other things too. She even taught me how to braid her hair."

Carlos was happy with the answer he got from Lester, he was a little concerned about the girl's silence but other than that, she seemed healthy and happy. Carlos smiled at her and asked, "Where are you from?"

"Dark place," the girl said simply, taking her thumb out her mouth, "Big dark place, it was cold and scawy."

Lester rubbed her back and said, in a soft voice, "Don't worry kiddo, no more dark places."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

Stephanie sipped her coffee in silence, looking out the window of her house. She looked over to the driveway, where the fence began and then looked away, her eyes filling with tears. She let out a sob and then turned away from the window and walked away. She couldn't stand it, she couldn't look at the area where it all happened. On the flip side, when Carlos asked if she wanted to move, she couldn't leave either, it would be like leaving a part of her here.

Stephanie walked over to the phone, as it went off and answered it with a soft, "Yes?"

"Stephanie, it's your mother," Stephanie set her cup down and eased her way down in her couch, "What are you doing for Christmas, you haven't told me your plans yet."

"Nothing," Stephanie said, as she laid out on the couch, "Carlos and I are doing nothing."

"Stephanie, you can't do nothing during Christmas," Stephanie's mom started in on her, "Your family wants to see you, we miss you and the holiday season is a good time for all of us to get together."

"I don't want to spend time with family," Stephanie said simply, looking out the window, "Carlos and I want to be alone."

"Stephanie, you need to get out of the house and be social, it's not healthy," her mother sighed, "I'm concerned for you, we all are!"

"I'm fine, I don't want to go to over to family, I don't want to celebrate Christmas, Carlos and I do not want to do anything, that's final."

"Stephanie, you cannot keep using this excuse, it's been what three years, it's time for you to put it away," Helen Plum sighed, over the phone, "Do you hear me, Stephanie?"

"You don't understand my pain, all you care about is you and your image," Stephanie said, "Forget it, Mom, I'm not coming over, not now not ever, maybe if you looked past your nose, you can see that there are other people out there, suffering, it's not always about you."

"Stephanie Michelle Plum-!" Stephanie hung up the phone and blocked her mother's number. She turned on her side and looked out the window. Tears blurred her vision and she began to cry softly. She wanted her baby back so badly, she wanted her son back and her mother didn't care. She couldn't be around her mom, she'll most likely say something that will set Stephanie off.

She couldn't spend time with family, not when her baby was along, in a cold, dark and scary place.

"I wish he was here," Stephanie whispered, tears in her eyes "I want my baby back."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"Dinner time, worm," The person walking down the dank hallway shouted, holding a metal bowl that held some scraps, "I hope you learned your lesson, I think those 4 days without food and light did you right, haven't heard a peep from you."

The person stopped in front of the only door in the hallway and began the long process of opening locks and then opened the metal door. The person looked into the room and paused, looking inside the tiny room that was pitch black. The had to turn a flashlight on to see inside. There was the ragged pillow and blanket but the person who should be inside the room was not there.

"Shit," the person said dropping the bowl, "Shit, shit shit!" the person grabbed a phone and quickly made a call, "Boss, she's gone. No she was fucking locked away, she couldn't-these fucking walls are supposed to prevent that- I don't know where she went, she could be anywhere, right now! Yes, boss, I got it, Boss, okay."

The person hung the phone up and kicked the bowl, cursing loudly. Now they had to go out and look for a brat who doesn't want to be found.

* * *

Ohhhh, Trash heap here I come! Thanks for the reviews, I'll put out another chapter soon!


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4, enjoy!

Warnings: mentions of abuse.

Disclaimer in chapter 1

have fun!

* * *

_Christmas Wish _

_Chapter 4_

_Prisoner Of War_

* * *

"You are an excellent patient," Bobby said, looking down at the girl, who looked back up at him, sucking her thumb, "You got all your booster shots and didn't cry. You're very brave."

"What's bwave?" she asked, as Bobby finished writing down some things.

"It means to not be afraid of anything," Lester said, patting the child's head, "Bobby's right, you were very brave. I don't like needles."

The girl looked up at Lester and then blinked, when Bobby held out a lollipop for her, "Here you go, sweetie, for a brave girl."

"What is this?" she asked as Lester unwrapped it for her.

"A sweet treat, don't tell Carlos," Lester said with a wink as Heidi popped the treat in her mouth, "Is it good."

She nodded her head and gripped Mr. Hiss tightly as Lester helped her down. Bobby walked over to Lester, the girl gripping his side and sucking silently on the lollipop, "She's underweight, a little anemic, most likely due to malnutrition. She still has all her baby teeth, so she may be around four or five. Her leg muscles show mild signs of atrophy, so we need to make sure she eats plenty of protein and uses those legs. She's very young so she'll heal from it fast."

Bobby handed Lester a business card, "This is the information to a Child therapist and specialist, she's very good at what she does, I suggest calling her up and making an appointment. She can go over the mental development and check to see if she may have some delayed developments. Thumb sucking in older kids is usually a sign of mental issues, like abandonment."

"Thanks man," Lester said, taking the card that was covered in doodles, "I'll call as soon as possible."

Lester tucked the card away and was about to leave when Bobby stopped him quickly, "Hey, Santos, I'll be meeting with Bossman about the girl's health, I think you should leave her with Ella and come to the meeting."

"You're just going to tell him what you-" Lester started but Bobby stopped him.

"I insist that you come to the meeting," Bobby said, his eyes serious, "Please."

"Yeah….I will, cool," Lester looked down at the girl, who looked back at him, holding his pant leg, "Come on, kiddo, let's go get some lunch with Auntie Ella."

"Kay," Lester grabbed her hand and lead her out Bobby's medical office, "Bye, Mister Bobby."

"Bye sweetie," Bobby waved to the child and looked down at the file he had of her, "A very brave girl."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"Did we pick a name out for her yet?" Carlos asked, as Lester walked into his office, "Kiddo is not acceptable."

"Still picking, she's very picky, Bossman," Lester sat sitting down, "We've gone through loads of names, I want her to be happy."

Carlos could recall the time he and Stephanie spent picking out his child's name. It had been important to them. He wondered how important it was to a five year old with no name? He leaned back and said, "You have a point, it's not like picking out a piece of candy, she's picking out her identity."

"Exactly," Lester said, as Bobby walked in with the file, "Be patient, she'll pick out the perfect name, soon."

"A name is important, but," Bobby said, opening the file and taking out a few pictures, "You need to look at this."

The group looked at the pictures Bobby placed on the surface of the desk, Lester could feel his heart breaking. The girl was so skinny, malnourished and so tiny for her age. He couldn't believe someone could do this to this girl or to any child, for that matter.

"I need for you to look at this," Bobby said, circling a spot on the child's side, "Look, right there."

Carlos looked down at the picture, zeroing in on where Bobby told him to look. Marks, just two of them, rested on the girl's side. Perfect circular scars, side by side as if-

"Someone used a cattle prod on her," Lester said, softly, picking up the picture, "Someone was torturing this child."

Carlos picked up another photo and looked. Along with the cattle prod scars, he could see thing almost invisible scars from across her side and back, as If someone whipped her, there were bare there burn marks on her legs and arms and her eyes, those big amber eyes gave her away in the picture. She looked like a prisoner of war. No wonder why she wasn't loud, or trying to dig into everything like a child should.

Carlos slowly sat down, looking into the girl's eyes in the picture. This could easily be his child, looking at him with those eyes, "Did she-" he could feel the bile rising in his throat, the image of his son etched in his mind, "Did she tell you who did this?"

"No and she's not going to tell us," Bobby said, fixing the file, "Whatever is in her mind, will stay in her mind, until we can find someone who help her say what's stuck in her mind, Lester's going to call a therapist. She's excellent at what she wants to do."

Carlos nodded his head and said, "Well, let's get her to see the girl, soon."

"Lester?" A soft voice said, causing the three men to look by the door to see the girl standing there, sucking her thumb, "I done with lunch."

"Sweetie, how'd you-" Lester blinked as he looked at the girl, who stayed at the door, "You-okay Kiddo, you're done, well, come here, when I was your age, my mom always had me take a nap, let's get you down for a few Zs."

The girl walked over to Lester and lifted her arms up to be held. Lester lifted her up with ease and then walked over to the door to pull it open, but found it locked. Lester slowly unlocked the door and left the office with the girl.

"How did she get in the office?" Bobby asked Carlos, who looked at the door, "That door was locked tight."

Carlos wanted to know that too.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"Hello, hello, come in!" Lester looked a little lost, walking into the office of the Child specialist that Bobby recommended, "Don't be shy, I don't bite much!"

The office was devoid of any furniture but a few squat ottomans, and a small table with small chairs. There was a fuzzy blue carpet that covered the floor of the office and a few toy chests on the side of the wall. The walls were a pale blue and covered with drawings, though a corner was nothing but degrees, achievements and certificates that the doctor earned through school. She earned a lot, apparently. All in all, the room was chaotic but a soothing chaotic.

"Come on and sit down," A side door was slightly opened and out of it came the doctor, holding a tray of snacks and juice boxes, "Sit down anywhere, on the ottomans, the chairs, the floor, I have big chairs if you want some."

Doctor Brittany was a little woman, 5'1, she barely reached his shoulders. She was dark skinned, with bright brown eyes and curly black hair that was held back by a head band. She wore a pair of jeans, a flannel shirt that had a stain on the pocket. She was shoeless, revealing mismatch socks. If Lester hadn't spoken to her on the phone and looked up her picture, he would have mistaken her for a 16 year old girl.

"Now come on and sit, and enjoy some snacks with me," Brittany motioned them to sit and Lester sat the girl down and then sat down himself, "Well, now that you're not attached to Mr. Santos, I can see you better."

The girl leaned against Lester, sucking her thumb, looking at her with wide eyes. Brittany smiled and held up a juice box, "You want some juice, it's organic, only a little bad for you."

The girl looked at the juice box and then to Brittany, "What is it?"

"Well, it's juice," Brittany stuck the straw in the pouch and took a sip, "It's tasty," she picked up another pouch and stuck the straw in it and gave it to the child, "Here, you try it."

The girl took the pouch and sipped it. She looked at Brittany and then to Lester, before leaning against him, enjoying her juice box. Brittany smiled and said, "No one can resist a juice box and cookies."

Brittany picked up a file from the tray and opened it saying, "Dr. Brown was kind enough to fax me over some things from the child's record, I hope you two pick out a name soon, I can't keep calling her sweetie."

Lester nodded his head, "She's very picky, some names she likes, some names she doesn't like," he looked down at the girl as she grabbed a cookie and to eat it.

"Well that's good to hear," Brittany wrote something down, "Excellent to hear, that means she's capable of critical thinking skills. Now, can you tell me how you came to oversee her?"

Lester jumped into the story, about how he helped her in the little Christmas village, how he followed her around the store, concerned, and about how he took her to get pancakes and decided to take her home with him. Brittany didn't say a world but did nodded her head and wrote down a few things. When Lester finished, Brittany set down the file and looked hard at him.

"You've done a commendable thing, Mr. Santos," she said, crossing her legs, "It's not everyday that a single man decides to change their life by taking in a child with special needs," She looked over to the girl and smiled, "Can you tell me a typical day for you both?"

"Well, I sleep on the couch and she sleeps in my bed, I help her get ready, and we go to work. Ella comes and gets her and she stays with Ella and comes back at the end of the day and I get her ready for bed."

Brittany nodded her head and looked down at the notes, "You don't know her age, correct?" At Lester's nods Brittany writes it down and said, "Alright, what I'm going to do is check her mental capacities and then I can set up her therapy schedule."

"So, how is this going to work?" Lester asked, earning a noise from Brittany.

"Ah, I should have properly introduced myself, I'm Brittany, a clinical child psychiatrist and a specialist in childhood mental development. I work primarily with children who experienced severe trauma. Children of war, child soldiers, refugee children and children who have been kidnapped, trafficked and held hostage." Brittany said, looking at Lester, "I'm rarely in my office, Dr. Brown caught me at a good time, I just got back from Turkey and I do not have another gig for some time, though, this little one's my new patient and I'll stay here to help her out."

Lester let out a noise and said, "That must be hard, doing what you're doing."

"The kids deserve a chance at normality," Brittany said, looking at Lester, "I try my best."

She smiled at Lester and then turned to the girl, "Well now, dear, we're going to do some tests, I need to check on some things, okay?"

"Kay," The girl whispered, as Brittany moved the tray to the side and then took out some puzzles.

"I have a few puzzles for you to do, I want to see if you can fix them, okay?" Brittany broke the puzzles up and set them on the table, "Start from this one to this one, okay?"

"Kay," the girl looked at the puzzle and picked them up, moving away from Lester.

Lester looked at the girl and then to Brittany, who watched her with the puzzles, writing things down in her file. It was painful to watch the girl try to do the puzzles. Lester wanted to jump in and help but a hand from Brittany stopped him from saying anything. A few minutes later, Brittany stopped the child from working on the puzzles.

"Good job," Brittany said with a smile, taking the unfinished puzzles and putting them to the side, "Now, we only have a few tests left, they'll only take a few minutes."

After administering the rest of the tests, Brittany settled the child down for coloring and then led Lester into a room with a chair and desk in it to talk.

"Hmm, she exhibits signs of critical thinking skills and is able to do basic, basic problem solving. Other than that, she is mentally stunted," Brittany said, looking at the information Bobby sent her, "She's suffered from prolong malnutrition for an undetermined amount of time and that will affect her intellect and mental capacity."

"She's…is she special needs?" Lester asked, as Brittany began to pull out booklets and pamphlets.

"She's going to struggle with several things, at her age, those puzzles should be easy to solve, without direction, she's done nothing wrong, this isn't her fault, it's the fault of whomever did this to her," Brittany assured Lester, handing him the things she put together, "I'm going to set up home therapy sessions with the child and put in a referral to a friend of mine. He's a private teacher and he'll do wonders for the child."

Brittany crossed her arms and said, "And I would suggest finding a bigger place, what you're doing is noble but, a growing little girl needs her own space, call me, if you need anything, I'll set up our first appointment in two weeks."

TBC

* * *

Here you go, now, off to the trash heap!


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5, enjoy! Thanks for the feedback

Warnings: None

Disclaimer in chapter 1

* * *

Christmas Wish

Chapter 5

The Guest

* * *

"The therapist is right, an apartment for a single man is not a good place for a child to live in," Lester groaned, pinching his brow, "I've been sleeping on the couch and she my bed, she needs to have her own space, her own room, her own bed, I don't own a house, and I don't plan on buying one."

"Kids require a lot of space, you know," Hal said, leaning against Lester's cubicle, arms crossed, "My sister has three of them and they run around and you gotta make sure they don't kill themselves, because they do crazy things."

Lester looked under the desk at the girl, who slept peacefully on a little bed he made for her. The girl didn't require much, or she wouldn't say she required much but he knew, she needed to be in a bigger apartment, or house or something.

He'd do anything for this child.

Lester sighed and rubbed his brow, thinking, "I don't know if I could get a house so last minute, I'm concerned she needs more space, a place to stay, I can't keep her here all day either, ugh, what should I do?"

"Maybe you should let someone else take care of her," Hal said, shrugging, "You said it yourself, a male pad isn't so good for her to live in. Find someone who you trust."

Lester rubbed his forehead, looking at Hal, he really didn't know anyone he trusted that owned a house. Well, there was one person, "I can always ask bossman."

"You think it okay to ask him that?" Hal raised an eyebrow, "With all the stuff they're going through?"

"Just until I can find a house, or a more permanent spot, she's been through so much, I want something stable for her," Lester said, shrugging, "Besides, maybe she'll be a distraction to them, you know it's been ages since Stephanie's been out the house. Maybe she can help her out."

"You know, you're stable too, Lester," Hal said, looking under the table at the girl, "She thinks you're stable, I'm sure she wouldn't be sleeping so deeply, if she didn't think you were a safety for her."

Lester looked away, saying, "I ain't that stable," but it did warm his soul a little bit to hear that the little girl thought she was safe around him.

Honestly, after what they found out, he would make sure to protect her from anything and anyone that wanted to hurt her. Who does that to a child? What cold person decides to hurt them at all?

"You're stable, Lester, you just live in a tiny apartment, look, ask Bossman if she can stay while you house hunt," Hal said lifting himself off the cubicle. "It shouldn't take long for you to find a house."

"You're right, and Bossman likes her, it'll only be for like a week or so, and I'll come see her everyday," Lester said, standing, "Can you watch her, I'm going to ask him now."

Hal perked up, Lester was like a guard dog with the child, no one got to spend time with her, "Sure, take your time!" Hal sat down quickly, looking at the sleeping child, "She's freaking cute."

"Enter," Lester's heard Carlos's voice and then entered the office, "Santos, everything alright?"

"Yeah, I just have a question for you," Lester walked over to Carlos and stood before his desk, "So, I'm thinking that the apartment I live in, isn't good enough for me and the kiddo, so, I'm going house hunting-"

"You've really gotten attached to her," Carlos said, watching Lester smile.

"Yeah, she-she's pretty cool, but she deserves space of her own and a stable environment," Lester said, "Which is why I want to ask you if she could stay at your place while I house hunt."

Carlos stared at him for a while before he said, "I don't know about this, Lester, we're still dealing with the, the incident and Stephanie, she barely gets up, we're not a stable environment."

"You guys are the most stable couple I've met," Lester countered, sitting down, "Look, you two are dealing with a lot but you get up and come to work, you support Stephanie and not only that the kiddo likes you and you like the kiddo. It's only going to be for a few days or weeks."

Carlos did like the kid and she was in need. Carlos sighed and said, in a soft voice, "I'll talk to Stephanie about it."

"Thanks man, when you get the confirmation, I'll explain it to her," Lester said standing, smiling, "Look, I'd do anything for the kid, I've only been watching her for a week or so but, she deserves it."

Lester waved to Carlos and left his office. Carlos leaned back in his seat and then looked out the window. He said the same thing about his son, he'd do anything for him, he deserved everything, if Carlos could have, he would have given him the world. Carlos ran a hand over his eyes and let out a shaky breath and rested his head in his hands.

He grabbed his phone and called Stephanie. She answered in four rings, "Hey Carlos."

"Babe, how would feel if we had a guest over," Carlos asked, leaning back in his seat, "She's a friend of Lester."

"I don't want anyone here," Stephanie said in that tired voice, the one she's had for three years, ""I don't want anyone here but us, Carlos, I just want to be alone."

"Babe, Stephanie," Carlos closed, "We can't keep going like this, we can't keep closing ourselves up, I understand if you don't want to help her, but I do, Stephanie."

There was a moment of silence and then Stephanie asked, "Are you cheating on me?"

"No, no, she's a close friend of Lester," Carlos said, leaning on his hand, "A very special friend, we're only going to watch her until Lester gets some things together, it won't be that bad."

"….As long as she isn't too much, fine, and she better not try to seduce you," Stephanie sighed, giving in, "Or else, I'll kick her out."

"She's not going to do anything like that," Carlos said, "I'll tell Lester the news and he can get things together, Babe, I know this is lot for you, thank you."

Stephanie let out a grunt and hung up on Carlos. Carlos sent a text to Lester and Lester sent one back saying he would drop her off at his house. Carlos set his phone down and looked out the window. He hoped the child wouldn't cause more tension in the house.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"I'll come and see you everyday, for hours," Lester said, looking back at the girl, who continued to suck her thumb, nestled in her carseat "Dr. Brittany's coming tomorrow and I'll be there for your session, can't let you go into battle alone."

"What's a battle?" She asked as Lester, removing her thumb out her mouth and holding tighter to Mr. Hiss.

"It's um…" Lester didn't want to explain what it was to her, crap, "It's something that happens that most people don't want, but we want this battle."

"Kay," The girl whispered, looking out the window, "Lester, can I have a name now?"

"You sure can, kiddo, all you have to do is pick one, we narrowed it down to four names, right? Lola, Princess, Heidi and Penny," Lester stopped at a light, "Which one do you like, kiddo?"

The girl sucked on her thumb, looking at the man and then she removed her thumb and said, in a soft voice, "Hi-He-Heidi, I want my name to be Heidi."

"Heidi it is!" Lester smiled, "It only took us a week and some change to get there, Heidi, does it feel good to have a name?"

"…Yes," Heidi said smiling shyly, as she went back to sucking her thumb, "I like having a name."

Carlos and Stephanie lived outside of Trenton, in a gated community of large houses and larger lots. Lester silently checked out some of the lots himself, this was a nice place to build a home, he mused as he turned down a road that held only three houses. He pulled into the concrete driveway that had a large pretty white house with black shutters framing the windows at the end of it. The lawn was lush but devoid of flowers and plants because of the time of year.

Lester turned the car off and helped Heidi out of it and led her to the garage, letting himself in with the key fob he had. He led Heidi into the mud room and into the kitchen, where Carlos waited for them.

"Alright, Carlos, here's Heidi and her bags and her-"

"She picked a name for herself?" Carlos looked over to Heidi who was back to sucking her thumb, looking at Carlos, "Heidi, you say? I think that's a pretty name."

Lester ruffled Heidi's hair and picked her up, so that they were eye to eye, "Okay, Kiddo, it's getting late, I know kids your age need your sleep," he rubbed her back, "I want you to be good for Carlos, he's a very good guy, a great guy, he's going to take real good care of while I take care of things, just think of him as Lester number 2."

Heidi nodded her head, sucking her thumb, before she whispered, "I be good," she leaned against Lester, yawning.

"That's what I want to here," Lester said, before turning to Carlos, "Where's her bed?"

"Come on," Carlos grabbed Heidi's suitcase and led Lester upstairs to the room he picked out for Heidi. It was close to the Master bedroom but it's not the closet room, that room is always closed off to everyone else. Inside the room was a full bad with soft looking blankets and sheets. The color of the room was a lovely dark blue with white furniture and trimming.

Lester carried Heidi to the bed and sat her on it. He changed her out of her dress and stockings and put on a fuzzy pink nightgown on her. He braided up her hair and tucked her in saying, "I'll be back tomorrow, while I'm gone, Mr. Hiss is going to watch out for you, he's a part of me, you know, and Carlos is my family too, he's my cousin, which is like, a close but not close brother or sister."

Lester tucked in the stuffed snake beside Heidi and took out a book, "Hey, last night we started this book, let's finish it tonight, okay?"

"Kay," Heidi said as she slide over so that Lester can sit in the bed with her, looking up at Lester.

Carlos closed the bedroom door to let Lester and Heidi enjoy their night together. He heard Lester finish the story and say, "Night, Kiddo."

"….Night, Lester….I'll miss you," Carlos could feel his heart clench at the way she said it, so shy, so bashful.

"Gonna miss you too, kid, who else is gonna eat pancakes with me?"

"Mr. Hiss?"

Lester chuckled and then Carlos heard him get up from the bed. He opened the door slightly to see Lester kiss Heidi's forehead, and run a hand over head.

"I'll make sure you're safe and sound, kiddo," He said to her softly, and then turned on the side lamp, "See you tomorrow."

Heidi burrowed under the blankets some more and fell asleep almost instantly. Lester walked out the room and turned to Carlos, "She's special, take good care of her please, she deserves it."

"You know I will," Carlos said patting Lester's arm, "Come on, I'll escort you out."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

Stephanie turned to look at Carlos sleeping and sighed, sitting up. She didn't show her face when Lester came and dropped off his friend, whoever she is. She sat in the basement of the house, looking at things she shouldn't have looked at. It caused hard memories to return to the surface. She stayed down there until Carlos called her up and asked if she was ready to go to bed.

"She's in this room, knocked out," Carlos said tapping on the door softly, "I think she's going to be a good guest."

Stephanie hadn't wanted to look at their guest, maybe she would be gone in the morning and only came back late at night but she was curious. This was, after all her house, and she should know what was going on in her house.

Stephanie slid out the bed and padded out the room to the closed door. She looked over to her bedroom, where Carlos slept and then opened the door to look inside. The side lamp illuminated the room and the figure on the bed. It also illuminated the cute, pink suitcase on the floor, the tiny pair of boots and the cute jacket resting on the armchair.

Oh. Stephanie walked over to the bed and looked down to see the small face of a little girl, fast asleep, cuddling a stuffed snake. She was dark skinned, with long black hair, small full lips set in a small face. She couldn't have been older than 3. Her eyes moved under her eyelids as she had dreams and her thumb was making its way to her mouth, in her sleep.

Stephanie placed a hand on her chest and she moved closer to the bed. She was a pretty child, Stephanie thought as she looked closer at her. Stephanie crouched down and reached out to touch the girl's face but then she snatched her hand back, as if she had been burnt.

Carlos and Lester had a sick sense of humor, she sniffed and she stood up and then left the room, closing the door behind her. Stephanie felt tears fill her eyes and she turned to see Carlos standing in the doorway of the bedroom, looking at her.

"You and Lester, y-ou I can't stand to look at you, how dare you do this to me," She whispered to the man, "Is this some sick joke to you?!"

"Stephanie that child has nothing to do with what we went through," Carlos said, walking over to Stephanie to grab her but, Stephanie slapped his hands away, shaking her head, tears dropping on her cheeks.

"I can't-are you trying to get rid of the memory of our child by replacing him?" Stephanie hissed, "Did our child mean so little to you-"

"Stephanie, you are going way to far," Carlos said, "If I could have traded places with him and died, I would have done it! I loved him, I love him still! I'm not out to replace his memory, his honor."

"I can't take it, Carlos," Stephanie nearly shouted, "If you think I'm going to interact with that child, you are wrong, I know what you're trying to do and it won't work, I won't make it work!"

Stephanie opened the door to the room that was always kept shut off, entered it and closed it in front of Carlos's face. Carlos's hand closed into a fist and he placed his hand on the door saying, "Stephanie, Babe, please…"

"Go away! If you want to replace our child go ahead!" Stephanie grabbed the pillow to cry into it, "I won't, I'll never replace him!"

Carlos sat down in front of the room and buried his face in his hands. The emotions he had been bottling up finally snapped and he sobbed in silence. His son was gone, his wife was drifting further from him. He didn't know what to do anymore.

The other door by the master bedroom opened slowly to reveal Heidi, holding the stuffed snake to her, sucking her thumb and looking at the crying man. Heidi closed the door and then made her way to the bed, climbing under it, listening to the cries coming from outside the room.

* * *

Things are not well in the Manoso Household...and off to the trash heap! Happy Thanksgiving


	6. Chapter 6

I hope you all had a good Thanksgiving, I ate curry and slept, pretty good day in my books. Here's chapter 6. Enjoy

Warnings: None (I mean, language but w/e)

Disclaimer is in chapter 1

Have fun

* * *

_Christmas Wish _

_Chapter 6 _

_The Village_

* * *

"It's been almost two weeks since the product has gone missing, and the tracking device isn't working?"

"No sir, in fact, we found it in the room," a person said, earning a grunt, "We're looking hard for it, asking everyone who's been in contact with it days before it went missing."

"Good, we need to find it and get it in the crate, someone's paid top dollar for it, anything that occurred, that triggered something, look at it, we need to get it back, I didn't waste my time and effort, keeping it alive only to lose it."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"Heidi, Carlos!" Lester walked into the kitchen, going over to the two and leaning against counter, "Did you two have a good sleep?"

Heidi looked up at Lester, sucking her thumb, dressed in a pair of jeans and a pink shirt. She grabbed his arm and gripped it tightly, while Carlos set a plate of eggs and turkey sausage in front of her.

"She slept all through the night," Carlos said, pouring Heidi a cup of orange juice, "She must have been exhausted."

Lester sat by Heidi and rubbed her back, "Ready for Dr. Brittany to come and talk to you?" He smiled at the head nod and then turned to Carlos, "How's Stephanie?"

"….Good," Carlos said, sitting at the table to eat his own meal, "Help yourself to breakfast, Lester."

Heidi looked at Carlos and then began to eat her eggs with her hands. She hadn't had good luck with forks or any utensil for that matter and had taken to using her fingers to eat. She was used to it anyways and Ella and Lester just wiped her hands down. The eggs were a little hot, but she didn't make a sound about it.

"It's a little hot, Bella," Carlos said, gently grabbing Heidi's hand and making her drop the hot eggs, "Hold on a second, I think I have something for you."

Carlos got up and went into the drawer and came back with a kids sized plastic fork that was a dark blue, "Here we go, let's try to eat with this."

Heidi watched as Carlos helped her hold the fork in her hand and then helped her scoop food up on her fork. It was easier for her to do it with this fork. Carlos let go of her hand and then slowly she scooped up more eggs in her mouth with the fork.

"Should have thought about getting a kid sized fork," Lester said, making a plate for himself, "And she looks like she's able to use it fine."

Heidi tried to scoop up the sausage but it fell to her plate and so she gave up and picked it up with her fingers. She watched as Lester and Carlos talked about stuff she didn't understand, eating her meal before picking up the plastic cup and drinking from the straw.

Lester perked up, his phone going off, "It's Dr. Brittany, she's outside, come on, kiddo, let's go greet her."

Lester wiped Heidi down and then led her to the front door. Carlos looked outside the window, seeing a sleek, dark red Tesla sitting in the driveway and a young looking woman climbing out of it, holding a bag and walking over to the front door. She was short, Carlos mused as he put the dirty dishes in the dishwasher and cleaned up the breakfast mess. He was concerned about Stephanie, who had yet to show her face but for now, he wanted to see the therapist that Bobby and Lester had positive words for.

"Hello Lester," The woman said, walking into the house, taking her shoes off to reveal mismatched socks, "Hello, dear, how are you?"

"Heidi,"Heidi said with a shy smile, "My name is Heidi."

"Oh! You picked a named for yourself, sweetie, good, that's going to help you with your identity and other things!" Dr. Brittany said, smiling at the child and then looked over to Lester, "Is there a good place where Heidi and I can talk?"

"You can use the sitting room," Carlos walked into the room, going over to Brittany, "I'm Carlos Manoso, Lester's cousin."

Brittany's sharp eyes looked at Carlos and she stuck her hand out, "Nice to meet you, and it's nice to see that there's a village here to help the child out."

Carlos faltered as Brittany asked, "Where is your wife?"

"My wife?" Carlos repeated, "How do you know I'm married?"

"Wedding ring and there's a photo on the side table," Brittany pointed to the picture of Carlos and Stephanie on their wedding day, "Where is your wife? I'd assume she would like be a part of this as well."

"She's busy," Carlos said as Brittany looked at him, smiling sweetly.

"Okay," Brittany said, looking to Heidi and Lester, "Come on, let's go and get you set up, I want to talk to Carlos first."

Brittany set Lester and Heidi up with a few worksheets, with Brittany leaving instructions for Lester to not help Heidi out with the worksheets, but he could help her hold her crayons properly. Then Brittany walked Carlos into the living room and sat down in an arm chair, while Carlos paced.

"I don't see why I have to talk to you," Carlos said, as Brittany took out a pad to write in, "You're here for Heidi, you're a child psychiatrist."

"Adults are just grown up children," Brittany waves off Carlos' objections, "And I help everyone I can, adults included. If Lester was wound up as you are, I'd speak to him too," she leaned back, looking around the living room, "I do have a question about your home life, you don't have to answer but if you can, then please do."

Brittany crossed her legs, "When your son died, did you and your wife get proper counseling to help with the grieve?"

Carlos stopped pacing and looked at the woman, who kicked her sock covered foot in the air, waiting for him to answer. Brittany looked around and said, "I know that face, how do I know? I recalled seeing this house on the TV a few years about, a child's death happened here. It was your son, wasn't it?"

Carlos sat down, looking at Brittany, who didn't say a word, but looked at him with soft eyes. Carlos sat down and said in voice that seemed weary, tired, "I don't think we did, I remember the mandatory session we went to, a few sessions with some person at the community center, Stephanie stopped going to them, after two sessions and I followed after that, we didn't think it was needed."

"Often times, when people think that counseling is not needed after such an extreme and traumatic event, it means that counseling is not working properly, do you have the information of the support system you went to? I'd like to look into them, to see if they're still up and running," Brittany asked, earning a nod from Carlos, "You don't have to get it now, I just want to talk to you, you're wound up, this has been sitting and festering for a few years, Carlos, it eats you from the inside out."

"Yeah, you should ask my wife that, she's-" Carlos rubbed his eyes and sighed, "She's never gotten over the death of our son."

"Have you gotten over the death of your son?" Brittany asked, looking at Carlos, "Men have an image to keep up, they're strong, they're the rock, the anchor in the storm, but men have emotions just like women do, but it's bottled up, kept inside so that they keep this image."

"I-no," Carlos said, feeling his chest tighten up, "He was my son, our first born, our only child, we had to fight to make sure he was born, they both almost died, Stephanie and my son, you know."

"Is that why you and your wife do not have any other children, because of the aftermath of your son?"

"Yes, I don't want to talk about it," Carlos said, as Brittany wrote down something, "If I have an issue with this, what about Stephanie? She gave birth to our son, she-"

Brittany suddenly asked, "Where is she now?"

"Upstairs, in our son's old room," Carlos sighed, "She goes there when it's too much for her."

"Can you take me there, I want to talk to her," Brittany stood up, holding her pad to her chest, "It's not good to hear that she locks herself up, closing herself away from society. It's dangerous, in fact."

Carlos and Brittany went upstairs and stopped in front of a door. Carlos knocked on the door and said, "Stephanie, please, talk to me."

"Go away," a tired, broken voice said, causing Brittany to step up.

"Hello, Stephanie, can I come in, my name is Brittany and I would like to talk to you," Brittany leaned against the door, trying to hear inside the room.

"Who are you?" Stephanie asked, her voice higher up, meaning she was standing, "A friend of Lester?"

"I guess you can call me a friend," Brittany laughed, "I'm a therapist, I would like to talk to you, please?"

"I'm not crazy," Stephanie said, making Brittany nod her head, "Go away!"

"I know you're not crazy, you're grieving and I'm just concerned about you," Brittany said through the door, "I just want to talk, we can talk about anything you want."

"You can come in," the door clicked unlocked, "But Carlos can't, not after last night."

"Can you go back downstairs? Please?" Brittany turned to Carlos, "We'll be fine."

Brittany entered the room and closed the door behind her, locking it. Stephanie sat in the corner, holding the pillow to her chest, looking at Brittany. From what Brittany could see, Stephanie had been crying for a while, her cheeks were puffy and flushed, her eyes red, her nose running. She looked drained, she looked beaten down.

She looked done and Brittany knew that Stephanie was at a crossroads, a crossroad that would make her choose something hard.

"Good morning Stephanie," Brittany walked across the empty room and sat in front of the woman, "How are you feeling right now?"

"You're the doctor, how do I look?" Stephanie asked, looking at the woman.

"You look like shit," Brittany said earning a wild look from Stephanie, "You asked me how you looked, I'm not one to sugar coat things, I don't even sugar coat things to my child patients, Stephanie."

Stephanie sigh and said, "I guess, I did deserve that," she looked away, as Brittany pulled down her writing pad, "Why are you here, anyways?"

"I'm here for Heidi, the little girl downstairs," Brittany said, looking into Stephanie's eyes, "But I can help grown ups too."

"I don't need help!" Stephanie snapped, glaring at Brittany, "I'm doing just fine."

"When was the last time you left the house?" Brittany asked, "When did you change out of your pajamas?"

Stephanie looked down at her tattered nightgown and sighed, she honestly couldn't remember the last time she left the house "I wash at least," as Brittany wrote something down, "I'm not crazy, damn it!"

"I never said you were," Brittany hummed as she looked up, "You're not crazy, Stephanie."

"Then why the fuck are you looking at me like I am!" Stephanie snapped, standing up quickly, "I'm not fucking crazy, stop judging me! You're just like everyone else, you look at me with sad eyes and think 'Oh look there's Stephanie Plum, she's gone crazy after losing her kid, poor dear!"

Brittany watched Stephanie paced and asked, "Is that what people say to you, when you go out?"

"My mom, used to ask me to go out with her, because I needed to be a member of society, and when we go out, they look at me, they look at me with pity and gossip behind my back and I know they say things like that!"

"Did I say anything like that?" Brittany asked, making Stephanie look at her, "I didn't say anything in regard to you or the death of your son."

Stephanie slowly sat down, "What are you in here for?"

"To check on you," Brittany said, leaning back on her hand, "Do you come in here often?"

"I come in here to think, to be alone," Stephanie said, looking around the room, "He slept in here, you know, my son, when I come in here, it's like I'm close to him again."

Brittany nodded her head and said, in a soft voice, "You and Carlos went through something very traumatic, it's okay to-"

"Carlos doesn't care about our son, or the memory of him," Stephanie snapped, "If he did, then he wouldn't have another child in the house."

"Why does having another child in the house mean that Carlos doesn't care about the memory of your son," Brittany asked.

"Because, it means he'll have another child to think about, to take care of, he doesn't need to think about our son," Stephanie said curling up around the pillow, "It's like he's soiling our son's memory."

"I'm going to tell you the truth, Stephanie," Brittany set her pad down on the carpeted floor, "What Carlos is doing is not soiling your son's memory. Just like you, he misses his child and thinks about him often. There is no correlation to helping another child and losing the memory of your child."

"What is happening is that you were not able to properly grieve for the lost the of your child," She continued, looking at Stephanie, "You've bottled it up inside of you and now, it doesn't know how to come out, it's trapped you in here, Stephanie."

Brittany looked down at her watch and then stood up, "You're at a crossroads, Stephanie, there are two choices you can make. You can continue on this path, letting what is trapping you, control your life and I can tell you this much, it's an easy path but it's a dangerous path. Or, you can take the harder path but it's a path that's going to help you deal with your emotions, help you properly grieve and help you deal with what's going on in your head."

Brittany walked over to the door, "I can't make you choose, Stephanie, I can only help those who want help, but-I am going to be here three times a week. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. If you want to talk to me, I'll be here, if you want to talk to someone else, I can make arrangements for you."

"I hope you have a good day," Brittany slipped out the bedroom and closed the door, leaving Stephanie with her thoughts.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"Now, I know you and Carlos are eager for Heidi to talk about where she came from but do not ask her where she came from," Brittany said, as she looked down at the worksheets in her hands, "She might not even know and it might bring up things she's not ready to talk about."

"Okay, so no asking where she's from," Lester repeated as Brittany squinted to read what Heidi tried to write, "Can you ask where she's from?"

"The point of my therapy sessions is not to glean information from the child," Brittany looked up, "It's to help her with her emotions and the trauma she's faced in her short life, nine times out of ten, that information will present itself to me, through sessions."

"I see, well, we won't ask then," Lester said, looking over to where Heidi and Carlos sat, "So, like I know you won't tell me anything about Carlos and Steph, but like…how bad is it?"

"I won't, you're correct," Brittany said, tucking the worksheets into her bag, "But, it's not good, I'm hoping things will get better here soon. Anyways, Dr. Ivan will be here tomorrow to set up a tutoring plan for Heidi, he's very good at what he does, I promise, I'll be back the day after tomorrow for another session."

Brittany picked her bag up and smiled down at Lester, "Thought it may not seem like it, we're off to a good start, remember, if you're doing the village approach, all villagers on board need to be in a good state of mind, I'll see myself out."

Brittany waved to Lester and said a short farewell to Carlos and Heidi before making her way to the front door. She had just slipped her shoes and on was opening the door when Stephanie appeared at the top of the stairs.

"When will you be back?" Stephanie asked the woman, who looked up at her at the stairs.

"I'll be back the day after tomorrow," Brittany replied, closing the door.

"I don't want to talk to anyone else, I want to talk to you, please," Stephanie asked, earning a nod from Brittany.

"Okay, that's not a problem, I am certified to help adults too, I do have a little assignment for you," Brittany smiled up at Stephanie, "I want you, for today, tomorrow and the day after that, to not wear that night gown, put some clothes on, step outside, it doesn't matter how long and then we'll talk about it, okay?"

"Okay," Stephanie sighed, she really didn't want to but, this doctor knew what she was doing. She hoped she knew what she was doing.

"Excellent, I'll see you in a few days," Brittany started to open the door but then Stephanie said something else.

"Will this help me, with my grieving?" Brittany turned around once more.

"Actually, yes, it will," she curled her fingers around the door handle, "It'll be like an introduction to you the feeling you've repressed for so long, stepping out the house will be, for you, like stepping out your safe bubble, it's going to be hard, I know, but it's going to be needed. Now, I have to go, but I'll be rooting for you."

Brittany gave Stephanie a wave and then left the house. Stephanie sat down at the top of the stairs and buried her face in her hands. She lifted her head, hearing a soft sound and found herself, looking at the little girl, who leaned against the archway into the living room, sucking on her thumb, looking up at Stephanie.

Stephanie stood up and then made her way back to the empty bedroom. She wasn't ready to talk to the child.

She didn't know if she would be ready at all.

TBC…

* * *

It takes a village to uh..raise a kid. Yeah, so, off to the trash heap for me!


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7, enjoy!

Warning: mentions of torture

disclaimer in chapter 1

* * *

Christmas Wish

Chapter 7

Polish Stone

* * *

Heidi looked up at the tall man, with wide eyes, gripping Carlos's pants. He was taller than Lester and Carlos. He was lighter than them too, with yellow blond hair and bright grey eyes. She would be afraid of him, if I t wasn't for the fact that he had a smile on his face.

"Oh, but you are a little one," Dr. Ivan Vashman said, looking down at Heidi, who looked up at him, sucking her thumb, "How old are you, Miss. Heidi?"

"Don't know," Heidi said, shyly, leaning against Carlos.

"You don't?" Dr. Ivan said, "Well, that's alright, Dr. Brown and Dr. Brittany think you're around 4 or 5, the perfect age to start school! I'm Dr. Ivan, I work with children like you, children who need a little extra help with a few things, when it comes to their education.

"Kay," Heidi said, burying her face in Carlos' leg.

Dr. Ivan turned to Carlos, "Today we're just going to set up and IEP for her, that requires a bit of testing and it might take a few hours."

"What is an IEP?" Carlos asked as he led Ivan and Heidi into the dining room so that they could have privacy.

"An Individual Education Plan, a system of sorts for children who need assistance with their education. Let's say Heidi is dyslexic, we would make a comprehensive education plan for her in a main stream school. If she needed an aide, she would get one, if she needed to be in a different classroom environment, she would go to that classroom, or even if the best course of action is to send her to a special needs school, we would do that," Ivan said, setting up his work station, "I'll set Heidi up with one, and start private lessons and when I'm satisfied with her milestones, we can discuss putting her in main stream school or a special needs school."

Ivan helped Heidi into a chair and said, "Alright, if you want, Mr. Manoso, you can join us, but it's going to be a bit boring."

"I'll do some work stuff at the end of the table," Carlos said, running a hand over Heidi's head, "I'll be back in a moment."

Ivan finished setting up the station and by the time Carlos came back, they were beginning the first of many tests. Lester wasn't lying when he said it was painful to watch Heidi deal with problem solving and anything educational. The poor kid, it was like she didn't know what to do, with most of the questions being asked. There were times she would stare blankly at Ivan and the problem, before Ivan moved on to a new problem. Ivan though, was patient, he said nothing when she didn't answer a problem he would confirm and then go to a new problem.

"Okay," Ivan said, two hours later, "Let's take a break, here's some crayons," he handed Heidi a coloring book and some crayons and then Ivan went over to Carlos with what notes he had now, "We're starting at square one with Heidi, so we're going to start with problem solving and cognitive thinking. She's mental and intellectually stunted, things that babies and toddlers learn, she doesn't know, we have to start there and it's going to be difficult because these are things babies learn on their own or mimic from their environment. She knows a few things, she is able to solve some problems, when she needs to but this is overshadowed by just how much she needs to learn. I don't even want to think about schooling, when she needs to learn such basic things."

Ivan took out a chart and showed it to Carlos, "This chart is an indicator for cognitive growth in children. At her age, children are here, this is their average growth. However, Heidi is here, well below that," he gave Carlos the chart, "I don't know where she came from but where she is at this chart means she was given no social interaction or a chance to grow as a baby, most likely they kept her somewhere, barely fed her and hoped she stayed alive."

Carlos looked at the chart and let out noise, the poor child. He looked over to Heidi, where she sat, coloring wildly. Things are stacked against her, but he was sure she would learn and thrive. Carlos sighed and said, "What do we do?"

"It's a radical idea but, I want Heidi to be around children, we'll start small, really small, next week, I'll bring something that will start her off," Ivan said, leaning back in the chair, "We'll see how it goes and, hopefully, it will be something positive."

Dr. Ivan stood and smiled, "Only two more hours of tests and we're done and I'll be out of both your hairs for the time being."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

Stephanie took time to take wash up, do her hair and make herself look presentable. She put on a pair of jeans and a turtleneck and made her way downstairs to the entryway. She put her boots on, along with her coat, scarf and gloves. She still wouldn't talk to Carlos, nor would she say anything to the girl. She wasn't ready yet to face her husband and the child, well, it was like she thought earlier, she may never talk to her. Now that she was all bundled up, she was ready to face the outside world. She grabbed the handle of the front door, opened it and exited the house, stepping out on the front stoop of the house. The last two days, she stepped out on the stoop but she hadn't taken a step off it. Now, though, she thought herself ready to step off and make her way to the end of the driveway.

She closed her eyes and inhaled a big breath of cold air, before opening her eyes to look around. It was a beautiful day in early December. The skies have been looking a little dark, maybe snow would fall soon. Stephanie stepped off the stoop and walked through the grass to the entrance of the driveway. She stopped near the edge and crouched down, where the remains of a wooden fence stood. She ran her hands over a large polished stone that rested by the remains and let out a sob. The black stone bore the name of her son, the one she lost three years ago, the only memorial she and Carlos made for him. Everything else had been taken care of by friends and family, but this, this is how they wanted to remember him by.

"I'm sorry, baby, that you felt that pain," Stephanie whispered, her eyes filled with tears, "I should have-" she looked away and stood up wiping her eyes, "Please forgive me for being such an awful mother."

Coming out here was a mistake, she shouldn't have left the house. Stephanie wiped at her eyes again, turned and made her way back to the house. She entered the house and then made her way up stairs to the empty bedroom and entered it. She slid to the floor and began to cry.

Today had been a mistake.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

Heidi sucked on her thumb, sitting on the couch, sucking her thumb and holding on to Mr. Hiss. She turned to the dining room, seeing Carlos in there, talking to someone on the phone. Lester had left a few minutes ago, and now Heidi had nothing to do but look out the window. She didn't mind, it was better than being in a dark, windowless room, that was tiny and cold.

She turned her head, as the front door opened quickly and the woman from a few nights ago came running in, slamming the door shut before running upstairs. Heidi turned to the mantel, watching as a glass decorative ball rolled off it's stand and over the edge.

It would have shattered into a thousand pieces on the wooden floor but it stopped in midair, hovering in the air. Heidi was looking hard at the ball and then slowly, the ball was floating higher in the air and then was righted back on its stand. She didn't like big noises and she thinks that that ball would have made such a big noise.

"Hey Bella," Carlos walked into the living room, just as the ball was righted, "Let's go read a book, I have a story you'll like, okay?"

Heidi looked at him slid off the couch and walked over to Carlos, grabbing his hand, letting him lead her into a small sitting area to listen to a story he'll tell her. She liked Lester and Auntie Ella, and she liked Carlos too. She sat beside Carlos and listened to the story she didn't understand. She might not know what he was saying but she liked the sound of his voice, it made her sleepy.

Heidi sucked her thumb sleepily and then leaned against Carlos and fell asleep quickly. She really didn't like sleeping much, sometimes bad pictures came in her head and they made sleeping hard. She would wake lots of time, but she didn't want to make Lester or Carlos mad for making noises during the dark time so she laid in bed, trying to go back to sleep. Most times she didn't go back to sleep, the bad pictures would come back. She hoped during this nap, she wouldn't have bad pictures.

She was rarely lucky enough not to get one and this time is no different.

S_he was back in that tiny dark room, huddled in the corner, as the big people came in once more. It was cold today, the big people said they were going to run tests, whatever that meant. They were going to make it very cold, to see how long she could handle it. They took her blanket and pillow and took her only clothes too._

_"-2 degrees Celsius," She didn't know what they were saying, it sounded alien, "She can get down to -24 degrees before needing to be revived."_

_"Client has plans to take her to Siberia for hunting, we need to make sure she's able to handle -70 degrees," Heidi's breath lingered in the air, her fingertips, she couldn't feel her hands, "Can we chill blast this room to -25, maybe it'll jumpstart that freaky shit."_

_Heidi shivered as the room got colder and colder and as it got colder, she got sleepier and sleepier, until the need to fall asleep was too powerful and she did, but most of the times when she did go to sleep, the big people would press something painful against her waking her up from that deep, peaceful sleep. She couldn't scream, they would punish her if she screamed, she didn't want that pain again._

_"Fuck, heart stopped, she's not doing the freaky thing," Heidi shivered, tears freezing on her cheeks as she gripped her chest, it hurt so badly, most times it always hurt after they did things, "We need her to do it, or else she's worthless to us, it's going to be fucking hard to find a client who's going to pay as much as they are."_

_"Freeze her and whip her, the whipping always helps," the voice of that person made Heidi even more scared, when that person was around, the pain was so much worse, "Hang her up, now."_

_The pain she had to deal with got worse and worse until finally, it wasn't. She couldn't feel it, it was almost like being in that big sleep she often went into. She let out a sigh of relief and slumped forward in the freezing cold room, she didn't care about anything, the pain was gone, and it wasn't cold._

_"There we go, perfect, we'll have to make a note that the client will have to cause pain for the gifts to happen."_

_Heidi just wanted to sleep, without the big people around but she was so tired, and weak, that sleep claimed her regardless of her feelings. She would just have to take the pain when they woke her up again._

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

Carlos placed a hand on Heidi's back as she twitched and jerked in her sleep, her eyes rolling behind her eyelids. She was sucking her thumb but he could hear her whimper around it. Whatever she was dreaming about, it wasn't a peaceful dream.

"It's okay, Bella," Carlos said, running his hand up and down Heidi's back, "You're safe now."

It's a shame he couldn't say that she was safe in her mind too, whatever was happening in there, it had a hold on her.

TBC.

* * *

Stephanie's having a hard time dealing and we get a glimpse of Heidi's past. Off to the Trash heap! See ya!


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8, enjoy!

Warnings: none, some feels I think.

Disclaimer in chapter 1

* * *

Christmas Wish

Chapter 8

Trucks and Feelings

* * *

"How are you feeling today, Heidi?" Brittany asked, rolling out a large laminated sheet, "Let's work on our feelings and emotions today, okay?"

"kay," Heidi said as Brittany took out a marker and gave it to Heidi, her thumb in her mouth.

"Now, let's work on the basic emotions," Brittany leaned forward, tapping her finger on a smiling face, "Happy!" she gave Heidi a big smile. She then pointed to a sad face, "Sad," she gave Heidi a sad frown, "Angry," her brow crinkled and she tried to look angry, "Tired," she yawned and stretched.

Brittany sat back and asked, "How do you feel?" she tapped on the sheet, "I feel….."

Brittany's wrapped her hand around the child's hand and slowly moved it over the faces, "How do you feel, Heidi? Sad, happy, tired, angry?"

Heidi slowly lowered the marker to the sheet and begin to color on it wildly. Brittany let go of Heidi's hand and watched as Heidi colored on it. Brittany had seen Heidi color like that, but she hadn't had a chance to watch her color. Even through the lines and scribbles, something was forming, shapes were forming, what was she drawing?

Heidi's eyes were big and her breathing was heavy as she colored. It was like she was in a trance. Brittany leaned forward and looked at the picture that was slowly forming. Brittany reached out to touch the picture but then Heidi grabbed her hand and gripped it hard, her eyes on Brittany's face. It startled the hell out of Brittany. She stared at the woman for a while before her eyes grew smaller and she had her thumb in her mouth, letting go of Brittany's hand. Brittany frowned and then said, "Okay, Heidi… Dr. Ivan, should be here soon, sweetie, so, how do you feel, what are you feeling?"

Heidi looked up at Brittany and then back to the sheet, not saying a word. She looked back up at Brittany and said, "I don't know," before taking the marker and going through her scribble, coloring away the barely there lines and shapes.

"Okay sweetie," Brittany said just as Dr. Ivan walked into the room they were in, smiling broadly, "Hello Dr. Ivan."

"Good day, Dr. Brittany," Ivan said as he walked in, "Mr. Manoso let us in, how's Heidi?"

"She's good," Brittany said, looking over to Heidi who kept sucking her thumb, "Who is this us you speak of?"

"I think he means this," Carlos said, coming in with a little boy hanging off his arm, swinging and giggling, "This belongs to you, Dr. Ivan."

Ivan plucked the boy from Carlos's arms and lifted him up, "Dr. Brittany, this is my youngest son, Thaddeus, we call him Diesel because-"

"I can keep going like a truck and I'm loud too!" Diesel laughed, playing with his dad's hair, "I'm a semi-truck! I can smash cars!"

Brittany's eyebrows shot up to her hairline and she said, "Oh my goodness, a semi-truck, should I be scared?"

"No, cause you're not a car," Diesel said, looking over Brittany's shoulder and pointing to Heidi, "Who dat?"

"That is my student," Dr. Ivan said, setting Diesel down, resting a hand on his head, "And someone I want you to meet. She's never met other children, she could use a friend."

Diesel's blue eyes widened and he said, "Oh….new friend!" Diesel ran over to Heidi, "Hey! I'm Diesel, who are you?!"

Heidi blinked, sucking her thumb, looking over to Carlos, who hid a smile watching Diesel interact with Heidi. Diesel wrinkled her nose and said, "You don't talk much, it's okay, I can talk for both of us!"

"You sure can," Dr. Ivan sighed, as he went over to the two, "Come on, Diesel, let's go play a few games."

Brittany walked over to Carlos, crossing her arms as Dr. Ivan led Heidi and Diesel into the family room, "Radical indeed, but a good idea, she does need to be exposed to children close to her age, and he does seem like a nice boy."

"I hope he doesn't break anything," Carlos said pinching his brow, "I don't think I can handle it."

"Speaking of handling things," Brittany said, grabbing her pad, "If you would be so kind as to follow me, it's time for a group session."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"I think it's time that both you and Carlos sit and talk it out," Brittany said as she settled on the carpeted floor of the empty room, looking over to Carlos and Stephanie, "You've been doing well with your assignments, Stephanie, I know we had an issue last week but we worked on it and talked it out. Now it's time for you two to talk it out."

Stephanie looked at Carlos and then looked away, her eyes filling with tears, "What if I'm not ready?"

"No one is ever ready to tackle with the hard things, Stephanie," Brittany said kindly, "But, this will help you. Both you and Carlos have a lot to say, but you've yet to speak on it, and it needs to come out, this is the perfect time to do so. This is going to help you."

Stephanie didn't turn away from the wall, but she did feel Carlos shift over to her, "Stephanie, Babe, I have to apologize to you."

"Apologize to me? Why?" Stephanie asked, looking at the wall, "Yo-Brittany was right, you're not trying to replace our son-"

"I have to apologize to you because I failed you, as a husband," Carlos said, looking at Stephanie's back, "I let you sit in your grief, I thought that this would help you, that you would get better if I let you do this in your own way."

Stephanie turned to Carlos as he continues, "Doing it your way made you fall into a depression and locked you in the house. I should have said something, done something but I didn't I watched you tfall deeper into your grief and now you're here, I should have been protecting you."

Stephanie looked at her husband, "I need to apologize to you too," she let out a sigh, "I was so caught up in my grief and sadness, that I forgot about yours, he was your son too. How could I forget that?"

Stephanie let out a sob, "You did so much after his death, while I laid in bed, like I had lost my life too. I was so selfish, I hadn't even spared a thought to you."

"It's okay, Babe," Carlos pulled Stephanie into his arms and hugged her tightly, "I know how it rough it was on you, you carried him, you almost died for him, you were with him, when he took his last breaths. It's been a rough three years."

"I feel like I can't move on," Stephanie sobbed into Carlos's chest, "Like I've been stuck here for three years, with no end in sight, how do we move on, Carlos?"

"You're moving away from this three year slump as we speak, Stephanie," Brittany said, looking at the two, "By opening up to Carlos, by communicating to him about your feelings and emotions, you are on the path of moving on. Not forgetting the memory of your son, you will always have that, but you are moving away from the wall that has kept you back. How do you feel, both of you?"

"I feel so tired," Stephanie sighed, pulling away from Carlos and wiping her eyes, "Like, I've been awake for ages and now, I'm just tired, and drained."

"I feel tired too, but it's a good tired," Carlos said, rubbing Stephanie's back, "I can't explain it."

"This is going to be tough, this moving on, process," Brittany said, "Now, I have an activity for you both and some things for you two to do on your own. The first thing I want you two to do as a couple is to go to your son's memorial and properly say goodbye him. From what you both told me, it was something that you two did on your own, but you haven't had a chance to speak to him, to tell him how you feel. Three years is a long time to not get closure, but it's never too late."

Stephanie and Carlos nodded their heads at the request, while Brittany smiled and said, "Wonderful, Carlos, can you leave the room, please, I want to give Stephanie her assignment, in fact, I'm sure you want to go check on Heidi and her new friend," she chuckled.

"I do," Carlos leaned over to Stephanie and kissed her, "I love you, you know that?" When Stephanie nodded her head, he got up and left the room.

"You and Carlos need to work together, as a team, Stephanie, it's important," Brittany said as she took out her prescription pad, "Hmm, I want you to start on some low dose antidepressants. It's not a fix all, but an aide, one pill a day for 30 days, we'll see how they work and then we'll go from there, okay?"

"Okay," Stephanie wiped her eyes again and took the piece of paper. Brittany tucked the pad away and then said, "I also want you to introduce yourself to Heidi. That's your only assignment."

"I-I didn't treat her right, I was rude to her, I wrote her off, do you think she'll accept it?" Stephanie asked, earning a head nod from Brittany.

"I think you two can build a bridge and come to trust one another," Brittany said as she stood up, "Oh, I do have one more thing to ask of you."

Brittany looked around the empty room and said, "Have you ever thought about taking up a hobby, this place is big enough to set up something fun, I myself enjoy a few things, it'll be therapeutic and good for you."

She gave Stephanie a wave and then left the room. Stephanie looked around the room and sighed, holding the pillow to her chest.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"And this is my favorite truck, since you don't know how to play with cars, and Deda said you can't run around and jump no more, I can show you how to play with it." Diesel sat in front of Heidi, holding his fire truck.

"….What's pway?" Heidi asked, sucking on her thumb.

"It fun time, when you're playing, you have fun, like when I tried to teach you how to jump, that was fun, right?"

"I don't know." Heidi said, rubbing at her small chest.

"Well, it should have been fun, don't worry, this will be fun," Diesel said and he set to work teaching Heidi how to play with his truck.

Ivan sat in the armchair, watching them play together, writing down what he saw, a frown on his face. Diesel was good for the girl, that was much but he was concerned about her health. His son tried to teach Heidi how to jump. The girl knew what to do after mimicking Diesel but she had to stop, suddenly, clutching her chest, panting hard. Ivan had told Diesel no more rough housing and running around, and examined Heidi. Her heart rate was jittery, irregular and at some points took too long to beat. She would need to see a specialist about it. He had never heard a heart beat so badly before.

"Is my house still in order?" Carlos asked, coming downstairs and into the room, "It is, how is she?"

"Good, lesson wise, she's observing and learning, but it's going to take some time for it to stick," Ivan said, motioning for Carlos to sit, "But, I have some concerns about her heart, I would find a pediatric cardiologist as soon as possible, she jumped a few times with Diesel but, had to stop, she was in some pain, I gave her some children's aspirin."

Carlos looked over to where Heidi sat, holding Mr. Hiss and her chest, while Diesel tried to teach her how to move the car around. He thought back to the pictures of her, with the marks on her body. If they were torturing the kid, her organs most likely went through the grinder too, "We'll arrange an appointment this week."

"Good, get her in quickly, in the mean time, no heavy activities, keep her sort of still, and for now, give her some children's aspirin every 6 hours, she's most likely in pain, but is not going to tell you, because she doesn't know how to tell you."

"We will," Carlos turned to see Brittany and Stephanie in the entryway. Brittany gently pushed Stephanie forward, saying, in a soft voice, "Go on, they won't bite."

Carlos watched as Stephanie walked over to the two children, who had abandoned what they were doing, well Diesel did, Heidi wasn't doing much. Stephanie crouched down in front of them and smiled at Heidi and Diesel before turning all her attention to Heidi.

"Hey, Heidi, how are you? I don't think you know my name yet, but I'm Stephanie." Stephanie looked to the girl, who sucked her thumb, blinking, "I would like to be to your new friend."

"Fwiend?" Heidi asked, earning a noise from Diesel.

"She doesn't talk much, but I'll talk for her, and yes, she would like to be your friend too!" Diesel held up his truck, "I'm showing her how to play with my truck, wanna join us?"

"Why, yes, I would," Stephanie said, sitting down on the floor, "Thank you, Diesel."

"Slow and Steady but progress is progress," Brittany said, going over to the men, "It's takes a village, to raise a child, is what I say."

"It takes an army with the boy," Ivan groaned, rubbing his face.

TBC…

* * *

Off to the trash heap, oof!


	9. Chapter 9

Woah the weekend can and will stay busy! Anyways, here's chapter 9, enjoy!

Warnings: None

disclaimer in chapter 1

Enjoy!

* * *

_Christmas Wish_

_Chapter 9_

_Heart to Hearts_

* * *

"Hmm, uh-huh," Heidi looked over to Lester as the man in front of her placed something cold on her chest, "Hey, kiddo, wanna hear your heartbeat?"

"I don't know," Heidi said as the man laughed and then placed the instrument he had on, on Heidi's head, plugging her ears with it. She stuck her thumb in her mouth as she heard something, "What's that?"

"Your heartbeat, kiddo," Dr. James Won said pulling the instrument off her head and setting it to the side, "It doesn't sound too good, and I'm a little concerned, so I'm going to listen and look at it more closely."

"Ultrasounds are good," Dr. James said, turning to Lester as Heidi picked up Mr. Hiss and held him to her to her chest, "But, at the rate it's beating and her blood pressure isn't so good, I'm going to take a closer look at it, so I'm going to do a endoscopy on her. We'll put her to sleep, I'll stick a small, flexible camera down her throat and we'll check out her heart that way, we can even see damage and if there are blockage."

"When would be a good time to do it?" Lester asked, crossing his arms and looking at the doctor, "Next week, the end of this week-"

"No, we should do it now, we can do it in office too, I have a procedure room and all," Dr. James said his eyes serious, "No telling how much damage there is, her readings are treading into congestive heart failure. We do it now, and then we come up with a plan for her, okay?"

"You're the doc," Lester said, holding his hands up in a shrug, "Whatever you want."

"Let's get her prepped now," Dr. James said, paging a nurse, "Hey Heidi, we're going to check your heart from inside, okay?" He walked over to Heidi and gently took Mr. Hiss from her, "So, I have something that looks like Mr. Hiss, it's going to go inside you, by your mouth and look at your heart, you're going to be napping when it happens, so you won't fill it at all."

"Kay," Heidi said, but her gaze lingered on Lester, "Lester not go?"

"Lester's going to stay with you until you fall asleep, it's going to be a fast procedure, when you wake up, you'll be in bed, okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be right here, in fact, let's get ready now, look at this, he found some snake pajamas," Lester held up the children's pajamas, making a funny face, "It's Mr. Hiss."

Heidi looked at Lester and then to pajamas and then went back to sucking her thumb. Lester sighed and puffed, saying, "You're a tough nut to crack, it's okay, I like you either way." He ruffled her hair and helped her get ready.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"Lester just sent a text," Carlos said, going over to Stephanie, "Heidi's going in for a procedure to look at her heart, they'll be back late. He also said we should go pick up loads of ice cream because Heidi's throat is going to be sore for a few days."

"He said ice cream," Stephanie said, poking Carlos in the stomach, "Not sherbet or that healthy stuff, ice cream."

"That stuff will rot your teeth," Carlos said, but he grabbed his coat and asked his wife, "Do you want to come with me and get some?"

"Sure," Stephanie got up from her spot and put on the coat Carlos held out for her. He wrapped her scarf on her neck and put her winter hat on her head and said, "I think you're ready for the outdoors."

"I sure hope I am, I can barely move," Stephanie joked and walked out the house, going into the garage to Carlos's car, "You put snow tires on?"

"I did, it's been looking like snow for days, maybe we'll get lucky." Carlos helped Stephanie in the SUV and then got in himself, "They're calling for snow in the next 24 hours, maybe we'll get snow before New Years."

"Maybe," Stephanie said as he ambled out the garage and then the driveway.

Stephanie turned to Carlos and studied him. He always went into this zone, when he drove. She loved watching him drive in the zone and this was no exception. This time, she noticed things, she noticed that he had shadows on his eyes, his mouth wasn't so tight lipped, but there were a few almost invisible lines there, and there were grey hairs, a few at his temples. They were barely into their late 30's. All these physical changes most likely started 3 years ago.

Stephanie rested her hand on Carlos's thigh. He grabbed it and squeezed it softly, before lifting it to his hand and kissing it. Stephanie looked out the window and said, "It's been a hard three years, hasn't."

"It has," Carlos agreed, looking over to Stephanie before turning to the windshield, "Didn't know life could be that hard."

"I'm still sorry," Stephanie said, earning a nod, "I should have never pushed you away from me."

"I should have never let you get into that position, Babe," Carlos responded, rubbing Stephanie's hand, "It will never happen again, I can promise you that."

Stephanie turned to look out the window, her fingers squeezing Carlos's fingers. "How about Sushi for dinner?"

"Sushi sounds great."

They made to the store close to their house and went to work shopping for ice cream. Stephanie looked at the selection and sighed, shaking her head, "Ben and Jerry's or Edy's or something else. This is too much, what flavors does she like, what if it's too cold?"

"Get chocolate, vanilla and strawberry, that way, she can choose between those three too," Carlos said, picking three small pints, "There, see, not that hard."

"You don't understand," Stephanie sighed, but she smiled at the man and wrapped her arms around Carlos's arm, "Should we get other things for her, you know, maybe she'll like something else."

"She eats anything given to her," Carlos said, as they walked through the store, "She's a-" he paused, trying to find the words, "She's -she's seen some things, experienced some things, maybe she doesn't have any likes."

Stephanie sighed, "It's going to be hard, isn't it?" she sighed and looked up at Carlos, "Helping her out."

"It is, I'm afraid what Lester's going to say to us after they get back," Carlos frowned, as they made their way to the checkout counter, "At her age, it can't be from genetic causes either."

Stephanie looked away, Carlos had been giving her medicine round the clock, lately, she hoped the child would be okay. Stephanie leaned against Carlos as he paid for the few items they got, leaving the store to go to the little sushi restaurant to grab a few rolls for dinner.

"Oh look, it's snowing," Stephanie said, on the drive back home, watching as big, fat flakes fell from the sky, "Ri-he loved the snow so much. I hope he can see it fall, wherever he is."

"I'm sure he can," Carlos said, grabbing Stephanie's hand once more.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"Someone needs to be jailed," Dr. James said, turning to Lester, his eyes hard, "And I'm not talking about jail-I'm talking about federal prison, this girl has been tortured."

"Dr. Brown mentioned that in her file," Lester said, running a hand over Heidi's head as she slept on, "We're trying to figure out-"

"No, I mean, this girl has been exposed to war like torture methods," Dr. James sat down, taking out a picture of a heart that looked worse for wear, "This is what Heidi's heart looks like, there is scar tissue near the valves, muscle damage and one of her heart valves is in desperate need of replacement."

"This damage comes from prolong use of raw electricity to revive a person," Dr. James said, watching Lester's eyes brighten in recognition, "You understand now?"

"Fuck, someone made the girl's heart stop and used…" Lester started but paused, "What did they use?"

"Raw wires, most likely," Dr. James said with a frown, "At a high voltage too, they most likely made this girl go into cardiac arrest multiple times and revived her with wires, with how bad the damage it."

"What's your recommendation?" Lester asked, earning a sigh from the man.

"Well, I would say, heart replacement surgery," Dr. James said, "But the wait list is long and for children Heidi's age, the wait is longer, so we go with plan B. keep her heart going until we can find a heart. We'll repair her heart valve and put a pacemaker in her, the pace maker will help with her heart beat, with gentle electric pluses, nothing too serious, it'll help her be able to do activities. She'll have to go on some not so great tasting medicine, but it will help her in the long run"

"So, a pace maker and valve replacement, is this major surgery?" Lester asked, earning a nod from Dr. James."

"It is, but it used to be much worse, this used to be open heart surgery but now, with lasers and advanced technology, it's not so bad, we'll check her in a day early, run some tests on her, surgery will take a few hours but she'll be able to leave 48-72 hours after surgery."

Lester grabbed one of Heidi's small hand and said, "Alright, when is surgery going to happen?"

"Next Monday," Dr. James said, writing something down, "I want her at the children's hospital bright and early, around 10AM, that means Sunday morning, only liquids and by 6PM Sunday night, no food or drink at all, okay?"

"Got it," Lester said, taking several sheets of paper from the Doctor, "Instruction, prescriptions, I think that's everything."

"She should be waking up in a few minutes, the nurse will come and take out the IV and then you two are free to head home," Dr. James nodded his head to Lester, "You have a good night!"

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"It's tasty, isn't it," Stephanie asked Heidi, as the child sipped her strawberry milkshake, "I like chocolate but strawberry is just as good."

Heidi lay in her bed, still under the affects of the medicine given to her for her procedure. She was dressed in a thin nightgown and holding tight to Mr. Hiss, looking at Stephanie with glazed over eyes as she sipped her treat. It helped with her throat, it didn't feel nice at all but she had suffered through worse. Plus all the nice people around her, Lester, Carlos and now the woman, Stephanie were taking care of her, by giving her cold drinks and treats. She liked milkshakes the most, almost better than pancakes.

"All finished," Stephanie said, taking the cup and putting it on the side table, before going over to the window by the bed and opening the curtains, "Look, it's snowing, Heidi, it's very pretty, it's even prettier when you watch it, with only a small light on."

Heidi turned to her head, watching as Stephanie turned off the big light and turned on the small light on the nightstand, sitting on the bed and pointing outside the window. The two watched the snow fall for a while before Stephanie said, in a soft voice, "When I was your age, and I didn't feel good, my mom or dad used to hold me, and read me stories or just hold me," she paused, "I used to do that with my son, would you like it, if I held you, or if Carlos held you?"

Heidi looked sleepily over to Stephanie and slowly held up her free arm, giving Stephanie the sign that said she was okay with it, if she held her. Stephanie leaned against the headboard of the bed and slowly pulled Heidi into her arms, turning her so that she could see the snow falling. Heidi leaned against Stephanie's chest, sucking her thumb and listening to the woman's heartbeat, watching the snow fall. She leaned into the hand petting her head and was nearly startled when she felt Stephanie start to hum. Stephanie didn't smell like Carlos or Lester, she smelt different, a good different tough. Her smell reminded Heidi of something, another person, like Stephanie, holding her and rocking her. Heidi nuzzled closer to Stephanie and fell asleep quickly.

This time, instead of bad pictures in her head, she had dreams of falling snow, strawberry milkshakes and a woman, who wasn't Stephanie, holding her in her arms, rocking her.

TBC….

* * *

Off to the trash heap!


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10! Enjoy! This is more Lester/The Kids centered chapter but it's important!

Warnings: name calling, some violence.

Disclaimer in chapter 1

see ya!

WARNING: I should mention this...this story is unbeated!

* * *

_Christmas Wish_

_Chapter_

_It's Okay_

* * *

"Alright, Diesel, you and Heidi stay close, okay, you're in charge, Diesel," Dr. Ivan said looking at the little boy, who looked ready to explode, "No running around with Heidi, she can't run around, remember."

"I know, I know," Diesel said, bouncing on his feet, "No running with Heidi," he grabbed Heidi's hand and then led her away, "Let's go!"

"This is a good idea," Brittany said, walking over to Lester and Dr. Ivan, with three cups of apple cider, "Exposing Heidi to people in a controlled setting, and Lester, thank you for adding provided security from where you work."

"Carlos was on board too," Lester said, taking the cup from Brittany and looking over to where Diesel and Heidi stood, trying to play a game, "He's very protective of Heidi."

Brittany sipped her drink, looking over to Lester and the to Dr. Ivan. Dr. Ivan was about to say something but then he saw Diesel jump in front of Heidi to defend her against a group of kids by throwing a skee ball at them, "Oh shit, I'll go take care of the kids." He set his cup down and then walked over to the commotion.

"Is there something on your mind, regarding Carlos and Heidi, Lester?" Brittany sat down in a booth, motioning for Lester to sit, "It seems you have a lot on your mind. I'm sure major heart surgery is just adding to the stress."

Lester, sighed and then rubbed his face, "I don't think I'm good enough for Heidi, I don't think I'm ready to be a caretaker to this child. I know she would be okay with me, but she's better off with Carlos and Stephanie."

"What makes you say that you're not good enough for Heidi?" Brittany asked, frowning, "Lester, from what I've seen and from what Dr. Ivan has seen, you are more than enough for Heidi, you're her sun and moon."

"It doesn't feel like it," Lester huffed, looking down at his cup, "Maybe she'll be better with Carlos and Stephanie, they're a family, I'm just a man who goes out, every other day, and fuck random women, does that sound like a good caretaker to a five year old girl?"

"As long as she doesn't see and is somewhere safe, there is nothing wrong with wanting physical gratification," Brittany crossed her arms, "But, I'll ask you a question, when was the last time you went out?"

"….Geez, I don't know, not since I found Heidi," Lester sighed, "She's the important one here, those women can-" Lester blinked and looked up at Brittany, who smiled at him, "I haven't been out in ages."

"Exactly, so, maybe this self doubt is coming out now, because Stephanie and Carlos are working on their issues and are thriving and you're afraid that they'll ask for Heidi, which would not be a bad thing," Brittany said, "But, if you think they wouldn't let you have joint custody of Heidi, then you're thinking wrong. They know you're an important figure in Heidi's life, they can see it, it's not Stephanie and Carlos Heidi goes to first, when she wants comfort, it's you. You found her, you took care of her first, you're the first person to give this girl care and affection."

Lester grabbed at his head and sighed, "You're right, I'm afraid I'll lose her, I don't want to lose her, is that, is that alright for me to say, I kind of want to take her away and not let Carlos and Stephanie have her, but they're happy around her, and that would be cruel of me to do so."

"You, Carlos and Stephanie should come up with a plan regarding the care of Heidi," Brittany crossed her legs, "If that means you move in with them, or buy a house right beside them, then you do that, I think it'll crush you, if you walked out that girl's life, and it will crush Heidi as well. She may not have the ability to express her feelings but she'll feel it, if you leave her."

"I feel-" Lester looked up, and cursed, seeing Ivan trying to protect Heidi and Diesel from not only a few kids but their parents as well, "What in the hell?"

Dr. Ivan was talking in a calm voice but the women who were the mothers of the other children were shouting and pointing at Heidi, who gripped Mr. Hiss. One of the mothers grabbed the stuff snake, going around the Ivan and ripping it, shouting something cruel to Heidi. Diesel tried to make a swipe at the woman, shouting at her but Heidi was silent, staring at Mr. Hiss on the floor. The woman was pushed back by Dr. Ivan who was now making a motion for some Rangeman security to come over.

"That is not good, we forgot about one thing, other parents," Brittany frowned and made to get up but stopped slowly, feeling the table shake, "Lester?"

"Yeah, I feel it too," Lester helped Brittany up and then looked over to Ivan and the children. He looked up and said, in a low voice, "Shit, Brittany, it's the ceiling."

Brittany turned and watched with horror in her eyes as the ceiling cracked and crumbled on the people yelling at the three. Pipes, metal rods plaster and cement came raining down on them. Dr. Ivan grabbed Heidi and Diesel just in time and backed away as the ceiling came down on people.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"Look, this is, pee ball," Diesel said, leading Heidi over to the game and dropping a token into the slot, "This is how you to play pee ball."

Heidi watched, with wonder as Diesel picked the ball up and rolled it down the game's lane. It flew up and into a hole at the bottom of the game. Diesel frowned, "I can't really play this game, don't tell Deda this but, I play it this way!"

Diesel grabbed the other balls, climbed on the lane and walked on it, going over to the area and sticking the balls into the small, upper top holes. Heidi stuck her thumb in her mouth, watching Diesel play but a sharp push to her back had the girl falling over. Heidi turned and saw a group of kids glaring down at her, some of them were laughing, others eating something.

"Hey Baby, get out the way," The ring leader laughed, looking down at Heidi, who looked back at them, "Hey, I said get out of the way, what are you stupid, don't you understand what I'm saying?!"

Heidi continued to look at the leader, her thumb still in her mouth and Mr. Hiss clutched tight to her side. The boy was about to say something else but then Diesel jumped in front of her, wielding a skee ball.

"Buzz off, you losers!" Diesel said, glaring at the group, "Leave my friend alone, she ain't do nothing to you!"

"She's stupid, that's what she is," The leader laughed, as they pushed at Diesel, "The little retard!"

"Take that back!" Diesel snapped, lifting the ball in the air.

"Retard, retard re-" Diesel didn't hesitate, he tossed the ball at the kid, hitting right square in the nose. The boy cried out in pain, grabbing at his nose.

"I told you to take it back!" Diesel snapped, as the boy fell to his knees, "You're a big _Mudak_!"

"Thaddeus!" Dr. Ivan walked over to the group, "Language! What are you doing?!"

"The _Mudak_ called Heidi a retard and he wouldn't stop so I threw the peeball at him!" Diesel glared at the crying boy, "He deserves it, he's mean, mean people should get hurt!"

"We do not use violence," Dr. Ivan glared down at Diesel and then turned to Heidi, "Oh, you're on the floor, what happened, sweetie?"

"He pushed her, I saw it, and then he laughed at her and called her a retard!" Diesel snapped, "I ought to throw another pee ball at him!"

"Skee ball," Dr. Ivan sighed as he helped Heidi up and dusted her off, "You're not hurt are you?"

Heidi continued sucking her thumb, looking up at Ivan. Dr. Ivan sighed and said, "You look fine, but you Diesel are-"

"WHO HURT MY BABY?!" Heidi's eyes widen and Dr. Ivan muttered something under his breath and turned seeing the injured boy's mother make her way over to the group, with another group of women behind her. Lovely.

"I did, he called my friend a retard and wouldn't stop!" Diesel snapped as Dr. Ivan pushed him behind his legs, "Deda! That boy was mean!"

"How dare you hurt my child!" The woman tried to go after Diesel but Ivan stopped her, "That brat deserves to be beaten."

"You're not going to touch any of these children," Dr. Ivan said, in a low voice, "You ought to teach your children a lesson in respect and boundaries, my child was protecting his friend, which your child assaulted first, might I add."

The woman looked over to Heidi, who was still sucking her thumb, but her eyes were wide, "The little brat looks fine, if my son is calling her retard, there must be a reason why."

It devolved from there, the women screaming at them, Dr. Ivan trying to talk them down, while calling for help. Diesel calling them names back and threatening to hit them all with a pee ball. Heidi didn't like big noises, it made her go back to the dark room, with the men yelling at her, the men hurting her. They only yelled when they were hurting her. She didn't like such big noises! Heidi sucked on her thumb harder, her breathing getting heavier and her eyes wider.

Heidi looked up suddenly when she felt Mr. Hiss be torn from her hands and she watched, as a woman tore him in half, yelling at her. She then looked down to Mr. Hiss and suddenly the noises stopped, she couldn't hear the noises, she couldn't see the people making the big noises, all she could focus on was Mr. Hiss, on the floor, hurt. They hurt Mr. Hiss, they hurt Mr. Hiss.

_'Don't they deserve to burn, kid?'_

_'Don't they deserve to hurt, huh?'_

_'You won't get hurt if ya hurt him, in fact, I'll give you extra food…'_

Heidi's eyes grew wider and she grabbed at her hair. The floor around her began to tremble and shake, the ceiling above the people making the big noise groaning, and cracking. She stopped sucking her thumb, still looking down at Mr. Hiss.

'_It's okay…hurt them…'_

And just like that, something inside of Heidi snapped and the ceiling came down on the people making the big noises. She heard screams and cries, felt a large hand grab her and jerk her into arms but she didn't see anything, she couldn't see anything. All she wanted was for the big noises to stop and she wanted Mr. Hiss.

She didn't get Mr. Hiss, but at least the big noises stopped.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

Heidi and Diesel sat in the back of Brittany's car, watching as the parking lot of the play place they went to filled with fire trucks, police cars and ambulances. The adults were talking to some important people but soon they would be back, soon they could leave.

"They deserved it," Diesel said to Heidi, as he looked out the window, "They were mean and they tore Mr. Hiss, Deda says that people don't deserve to get hurt but I think, sometimes, bad people deserve it. They were mean to you, Heidi, and they wouldn't stop."

Heidi didn't say a word, looking out the window, sucking her thumb, her eyes half closed. Diesel sighed and said, "Deda says he wonders what goes on in your head, cause you don't talk," he leaned forward and said, "I don't care what goes on in your head, you're my friend, Heidi and I'll talk for you, if you don't wanna talk."

Diesel looked around and said, in a soft voice, "Hey, Heidi, look," he lifted up the remains of Mr. Hiss and showed them to Heidi, who turned to look at it, "Look at this, watch!"

Heidi watched as Diesel ran his hands over Mr. Hiss several times and then Mr. Hiss came back together again, looking as though he had never been ripped in half. Heidi pulled her thumb out her mouth and reached out for Mr. Hiss. Diesel gave her the stuffed toy and said, "You can't say anything about it, okay, it's our secret, I'm not supposed to do that outside the house, Deda said that bad people could try to get me, but it's okay if you know, our secret, okay?"

"Kay," Heidi whispered, looking down at Mr. Hiss and pulling him to her side.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"No one was killed, thank goodness," Lester said, recalling the story to Stephanie and Carlos, "But there were a few severe injuries, ceiling came down, some of the pillars came down too."

"At least Heidi was okay," Carlos said, looking at said child, who sat in front of the TV, watching it with wide eyes.

"We lost Mr. Hiss in the rubble," Lester sighed but stopped as Heidi got up, walked out the room and came back in with Mr. Hiss, who looked as though he hadn't been ripped apart, "Heidi! Mr. Hiss, how-how is he okay?!"

"Secwet," Heidi said, looking at the adults and then going back to watch TV.

Stephanie looked at the child and then to Carlos, "Secrets? I didn't know she could keep secrets."

"I get the feeling that little mind of hers is full of secrets," Carlos said, looking at Heidi's back, "Secrets she can't tell us because she doesn't know how to."

TBC….

* * *

Oh...interesting things happening...and I'm off to the Trash Heap!


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11, a feel good chapter, cause I want one. Enjoy

Warning: excessive uses of Eskimo kisses.

Disclaimer in chapter one.

Warnings: unbetaed AF :/

See ya!

* * *

"You didn't do that, did you?" Dr. Ivan asked Diesel as they drove to Carlos's house, "Tell me the truth, Diesel."

"I didn't hurt them, the ceiling did," Diesel said, as he looked at his dad, "Ceiling must not have liked them."

He shrugged and Dr. Ivan sighed, pinching his brow, "I'm still not happy with you, with your language, young man," he glared at the boy, "We don't use Russian curse words in public."

"Okay, Deda," Diesel said, kicking his legs, "I won't use those bad words in public…I'll use English words."

"I don't know what to do with you…" Dr. Ivan sighed, before he said, in a soft voice, "You remember what I said, Diesel, you can't use your gifts outside the house, there are bad people out there who will take you, if they find out."

"I know, deda, I don't use my gifts outside the house, promise," Diesel said, as they pulled into the long driveway, "Deda, can we play outside today, there's a lot of snow from last night!"

"We'll see. Heidi has some schoolwork, and so do you," Dr. Ivan chuckled as Diesel groaned in displeasure, "Just because you get to help Heidi by playing games with her, doesn't mean you get to slack in your studies too."

"I hate studying," Diesel said, jumping out the car and running over to the garage, "Ding dong, it's me, Diesel, let me in!" Diesel jumped up to ring the bell, "It's cold!"

"And let you in I will," Stephanie said, opening the door to let Diesel in, "Let's get you out of these wet things, Heidi is in the study, waiting for you."

"Stephanie, how are you?" Ivan asked as he took off his boots and coat, shaking his hair free, "I hope things are looking good for you?"

"They are," Stephanie said taknign Ivan's coat and hanging them by the roaring fire, "Diesel's alright, from the incident?"

"Yeah, he's a tough kid," Dr. Ivan waved her off, he wasn't about to tell her that Diesel was delighted to see them hurt, "Dr. Brittany spoke to him, he's fine."

Stephanie and Ivan walked into study, where Heidi sat, watching Diesel as he took out his toys. Dr. Ivan coughed and said, "Diesel, homework, not toys."

"Aw man, I thought you forgot," Diesel sighed and got up, going over to the desk and taking out a few workbooks.

"We spoke about this 3 minutes ago, of course I didn't forget," Dr. Ivan ran a hand through Diesel's hair and then turned to Heidi, "Alright, sweetie, let's work on some other things, okay."

"Kay," Heidi said, going over to Ivan, as Stephanie left the room.

"I'll bring hot chocolate," Stephanie said before slipping away, "With extra marshmallows."

"Lady knows how to please a man," Diesel said, earning a pinch from Dr. Ivan, "Deda! I didn't get it from videos I know I'm not supposed to watch."

"Way to rat yourself out," Dr. Ivan placed Heidi on a seat and then took out some puzzles, "Let's work on your memory, let's see how much you're able to remember."

Ivan did the puzzle in front of Heidi and then placed it in front of her, not done, "Okay, Kiddo now you do it."

He had expected her to look at him with that blank stare of her but she looked at the puzzle and then him and slowly began to put it back together again. When she was done, she looked up at Ivan, sucking her thumb. Dr. Ivan raised an eyebrow and then said, "Okay, how about a different puzzle."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

Stephanie looked up from the magazine she was looking through, watching as Dr. Ivan took things out the study, nothing big, just small things, like picture frames, books, knick-knacks and other small things. He walked over to Stephanie and said, in a soft voice, "Come with me, watch."

Stephanie got up and went with Ivan over to the entrance of the study, where Heidi waited, sucking her thumb. Diesel was fast asleep on the table, snoring softly. The study was empty of all things but the heavy furniture.

"What is going on here?" Stephanie started but Dr. Ivan looked at Heidi and said, "Okay, kiddo, go on."

Stephanie and Ivan watched as Heidi began to take things and put them back in the study, putting things back where they belong, even going so far as to turn them so that they were in the place they had been before Ivan moved them. Stephanie tilted her head to the side and watched as Heidi finished what she was doing and then said, "Uh…"

Ivan pulled his phone out and showed Stephanie a picture of the study before. Stephanie looked at the picture and then at the study saying, "It's like nothing's changed."

"Exactly," Dr. Ivan said, "But I need something…different."

Diesel and Heidi watched as Stephanie and Ivan quickly put together a very large puzzle. There was muttering and whispers of anger but in a few hours, the giant puzzle was put together. Dr. Ivan held Heidi up and said, "Okay, Heidi, look at the puzzle, okay?"

Heidi looked at the puzzle, it was a picture of a forest that was light enough to see the edges of the puzzle pieces. Dr. Ivan nodded his head and then Stephanie tore apart the puzzle. Dr. Ivan ruffled Heidi's hair and said, "Okay, kiddo, put it back together again."

Stephanie and Dr. Ivan watched Heidi as she put the puzzle back together quickly. She didn't even blink when she did it. Diesel looked over to his dad and said, in a soft voice, "I wish I could do that."

Dr. Ivan tilted his head and watched Heidi's face as she put the puzzle back together, without making a mistake. She was panting, her eyes wide, unblinking as she did the puzzle. Dr. Ivan wrote something down , whispering to himself, "It couldn't be…"

In an hour, Heidi has the puzzle back together, looking at Stephanie and Dr. Ivan. Stephanie looked at Dr. Ivan and asked, "What was that?"

"That was Photogenic memory working," Dr. Ivan said, "Now, Diesel, you have homework to do, if you want to play in the snow."

"Gah!" Diesel ran off into the study to do his homework.

Heidi grabbed at Stephanie and leaned against the woman as Dr. Ivan leaned forward and asked, "Hey Heidi, I have a question, do the pictures in your head," he pointed to his head, Do they stay in your head?"

Heidi looked down at the symbols Dr. Ivan placed in front of her. She remembered Dr. Brittany saying this would help her let her say what she wanted to say. Heidi moved her finger over to the Yes symbol, looking at Dr. Ivan after she does.

Dr. Ivan nodded his head and said, "Well, that's okay, sweetie. Some people remember loads of things for a long time."

Dr. Ivan smiled to Stephanie and said, "Looks like we're working with something else."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"Snowball fight, come on Lester, come on Carlos," Diesel tugged the two men out the house, "We gotta show Heidi how to have one."

"We do?" Carlos asked, looking over to Stephanie and Ivan for help, but giving up when Stephanie causally waved goodbye to him, "Babe, feeding me to the sharks?"

"More like a truck, but that works too," Stephanie laughed as Carlos and Diesel left the house to play in the snow, "Come on Heidi, let's get you bundled up and we'll go make a snowman."

"I'll be out there soon, I have to make a call," Dr. Ivan said, slipping away into the study.

"So much snow!" Diesel boomed, scooping some up and throwing it at Carlos, hitting him right in the face, "Got you, Carlos!"

Carlos turned, hearing Lester boom with laughter and he felt his eye twitch, "That was funny?" He bent down and scooped up some snow, throwing it at Lester and hitting him in the face, "Is it funny now?"

"War has been declared!" Lester boomed turning to Diesel, "Diesel, me and you against Carlos!"

"Okay!" Diesel said, turning to Carlos, "Get him!"

Stephanie and Heidi were a distance from the rowdy men, sitting in the snow and making a snowman. Stephanie rolled a ball up and said, "Let's start with this okay? Have you ever made a snowman?" At Heidi's blank look, Stephanie said, "It's okay, I can teach you."

Heidi helped Stephanie, or tried to help make a snowman, but she spent most time eating the snow, she liked the cold in her mouth, plus the cold didn't bother her, she wasn't even cold. She hadn't felt cold in a long time.

"You have a face full of snow, you look like a snow fairy," Stephanie said smiling at Heidi, who blinked up at her, eating more snow, "Now you need to stop eating that snow, I'll crush some ice for you, and you can eat it that way."

Stephanie wiped most of the snow and water from Heidi's face and then said, "You brave little girl, going through so much, you make my problems look small."

Heidi lifted more snow up to eat it but a snowball hit her in the face. Stephanie gasped and looked down at Heidi who looked startled, blinking snow out her eyes. Lester ran over to the two and said, "Whoops, stray snowball went wild," he looked down at Heidi, "You okay, kiddo?"

Heidi looked up at Lester, and then began to eat the snow off her face, with little care that she got a face full of snow. Lester laughed and lifted Heidi up in his arms and wiped her face off, "You shouldn't eat that snow, kiddo, you look like an Eskimo, an Eskimo who needs an Eskimo kiss."

"Eskimo kiss?!" Diesel and Carlos came over, Diesel on Carlos's back, "Those are my favorite kisses, cause they're not lip kisses!"

"Here, Heidi, I'll show you how to Eskimo kiss," Diesel turned Carlos's head around and then nuzzled his nose against Carlos's nose, "See, no lips and it's fun!"

Heidi watched as Diesel gave Carlos another Eskimo kiss and then slid down to give Stephanie one as well. Diesel demanded that Lester pick him up and then gave Lester an Eskimo kiss. Diesel looked over to Heidi and asked, "Can I give you an Eskimo kiss?"

"Kay," Heidi said, and then Diesel leaned in and nuzzled his nose with her nose, "Not bad, right?"

Heidi turned her head as Lester leaned in close and nuzzled his nose with her nose. She touched her nose and then asked, "more?"

"See, everyone likes Eskimo kisses!" Diesel cheered as Stephanie and Carlos walked over to Heidi.

Carlos leaned in and gave both Stephanie and Heidi an Eskimo kiss and then Stephanie leaned in to give Heidi an Eskimo kiss and then gave her husband one. Heidi looked at the four people, and then gave them a rare, tiny smile. She liked Eskimo kisses very much.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

Dr. Ivan stood by the window, watching the group outside. He picked his phone up and made a call.

"Hello Dr. Ivan!" Brittany's voice came through the other end, "What can I do for you, is it Heidi?"

"Yeah, it's Heidi," Ivan said, looking outside, "We might actually have a breakthrough with Heidi," he rubbed the bridge of his nose, "I think she may be an Unmentionable."

Brittany was silent for a moment and then said, "I see, this…this does changes a lot, I'll tell you what, after the surgeries she goes through, I will test her, and if she is an Unmentionable, it will open up several doors for us."

"And it will cause several problems as well…." Dr. Ivan countered, earning a sigh from Brittany.

"I wish it didn't," Brittany said, rubbing her brows, "We'll worry about this when we get to this bridge, for now, how is Brittany?"

"She's…she opening up, and I'm proud of that, oh, and she has photogenic memory," Dr. Ivan said, earning a chuckle from Brittany.

"I expected as much, I'll see you on Monday, when we're all hunkered out at the hospital," Brittany said, before hanging up.

Dr. Ivan walked put his phone away and then walked over to the window again, hearing his son demand Eskimo kisses. He looked at Carlos and Stephanie and smiled, at least they were getting over their own problems.

Heidi, however, may have new problems on the horizon.

* * *

Trash heap, here I come!


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12, self indulgence chapter and more insight into what happened to Stephanie and Carlos's child, not much, but some.

Warnings: None

disclaimer in chapter 1

unbeta AF, don't say I ain't warn ya.

* * *

_Christmas Wish_

_Chapter 12_

_The Creeper_

* * *

"Where is the product I paid for?" A thick Russian voice asked over the speaker, said voice sounded agitated, "I paid 10 million Euros for it, and I have yet to receive it!"

"Sir, we're still training it, you want it to have the ability to kill many in one hit," someone said, "We will get it to you when-"

"Do not lie to me," The person snapped, "I have people watching you, and I know that the product is gone, missing, you have two weeks to find it, or I will be taking back my money, with interest."

The person hung up the phone and suddenly, there was a loud curse and the a person threw something. They rounded on a group of people and snapped, "I don't care if you have to flip this world upside down, find it and find it now and when you find it, make sure it can't escape again!"

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"What, you got those cool socks with the stickies on the bottom!" Diesel said playing with Heidi's feet, which were covered in pink socks, "I want a pair, can I get a pair, Deda?"

"If you can find some laying around, and they're not dirty, you can take them," Ivan said, before he pulled Diesel away from Heidi, "Are you ready, Heidi?"

"I don't know," Heidi said, looking over to Dr. Ivan, who gently pinched her nose and then leaned down and gave her an Eskimo kiss, "Want another?"

"I got you, Heidi," Diesel said, climbing on her bed and then gave her an Eskimo kiss. He bit his lip and then hugged her gently, "I'll see you soon, Heidi." Dr. Ivan picked Diesel up and carried him out the room with Diesel waving to Heidi.

"He's a good boy," Stephanie said looking over to Carlos, holding his hand, "Wild but good."

Carlos agreed with Stephanie and wished Ivan luck when Diesel hit puberty, the boy was going to be wild. Carlos leaned closer to Stephanie as she looked over to Heidi, her eyes clouded, "Hey, she's going to be fine, it's not open heart."

"Yeah, but it's not a simple procedure either," Stephanie sighed, looking back at Carlos, "I'm just…scared is all. I'm scared it's going to be too much for her, that her heart will give out in the middle of it."

"It won't, she's a fighter," Carlos said softly, leaning in and kissing Stephanie's forehead, "You know she's a fighter."

"I don't want her to die, I know it's only been a couple weeks, but, I enjoy Heidi," Stephanie whispered, hugging Carlos, "I want her to be around, she's a brave girl, she needs a second chance after all the pain she went through."

"She'll get one," Carlos said, softly, patting Stephanie's back, "Don't worry, she'll be fine."

Lester tucked Mr. Hiss in beside Heidi, running a hand over her head, "Mr. Hiss will watch over you, okay? He's going to make sure that you wake up and when you wake up, we're going to spoil you silly and feed you as much snow as you want."

Heidi sucked on her thumb, looking up at Lester. She reached out and grabbed his arm, taking her thumb out and saying in a soft voice, "I miss you."

"I'll miss you too, but you better believe, when you wake up again, I'll be here." Lester said, just as Dr. James came in, prepped for surgery.

"Okay, Miss. Heidi, let's get you wheeled in for surgery," Dr. James said, looking over to the adults, "Don't worry she's in good hands, we're going to put her to sleep once we're in the operating room and I hope we'll be in and out in about…6-8 hours?"

"It sounds like you're just going to bed," Lester said, smiling at Heidi, "Okay. Sweetie, we'll be waiting, okay?"

"'Kay," Heidi said as a team of nurses came in to wheel her off.

"Be brave," Carlos said, leaning down and giving Heidi an Eskimo kiss, "We'll be waiting."

Stephanie gave Heidi an Eskimo kiss as well, "I'm going to spoil you rotten, when you're out the hospital.

Heidi grabbed Lester and leaned up and gave him a weak Eskimo Kiss, just as the doctor wheeled her off. Lester looked over to Stephanie and Carlos and said, "She'll be alright…."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"Hey Lester, how are you feeling?" Brittany asked as she walked into the waiting room of the children's hospital, carrying a tray of hot drinks, "I heard from Dr. Ivan that Heidi's doing well, as of right now."

"Yeah," Lester took the traveling cup from the woman and leaned back, "Thanks."

"Give me a moment, I'm going to give the others their drink and we can have a chat," Brittany smiled and then went to give Dr. Ivan, Stephanie and Carlos the coffee they requested. She gave Diesel his own small hot chocolate and then made her way back to Lester, "How are you feeling?"

"Scared, nervous, all of the above?" Lester said, looking over to Brittany as she sipped her drink, "I just want Heidi healthy and happy."

"And she will," Brittany took off her pea coat and folded it, "She's going to live a long and healthy life, with you and Carlos and Stephanie. Have you spoke to Carlos and Stephanie about Heidi?"

"Yes," Lester nodded his head, watching Brittany shift In her seat, "I decided it's easier for me to just move close to them, the house that's across from them is for sale, I'm going to buy it."

"That's good news, Heidi, I'm sure, is going to be happy that there will be two households that will love her and take care of her," Brittany set her drink down, "Now, if you start dating again, when Heidi is settled in and you're settled in to your role as a father and care giver, you have a place for her to go, when you start dating again."

"I don't know if I'm going to go out and date," Lester shrugged, looking away, "I don't want to let them into my house, where Heidi lives. I don't want them to see my private life and I don't want to go out and date random women."

Brittany hummed and nodded her head as Lester said, "I think I just want to settle down and worry about Heidi, maybe someone will stumble into my life, but until then, I am fine where I am. No more random women, no more clubbing, I'm bit too old to be clubbing anyways, I'm only a few years away from being 40."

"It's good to hear that you've changed your goals and your life choices for Heidi, it's shows that you're committed to her, and that you're in it for the long road." Brittany smiled at Lester, "But don't short change yourself, Lester, you're a very good man, any woman who falls in love with you will be lucky."

Lester chuckled and said, "Thanks, Brittany, I bet you're as good with your husband talking him up, as you are with me."

"I don't have a husband," Brittany laughed, pushing at Lester, "I'm single, my life is too busy for husbands and family life. I'm always in war torn countries, or traveling."

"And I'm sure a guy worth his wit wouldn't mind traveling with you," Lester said, finishing his drink, "Don't sell yourself short, Brittany, you're a very good and attractive woman, if men are scared of you because you're intelligent, travel and are sure of yourself then they're dumb."

Lester stood up and said to the silent woman, "You just haven't found the right man yet, don't worry, he'll find you, there's no need for you look, I bet you can get them to line up around the block," Lester gave Brittany a wink and then went off to throw away his cup, leaving a flustered Brittany behind.

Brittany looked away, picking her phone up to look busy. She looked over to Lester and then back to her phone, her cheeks hot. That man just did not- she groaned and buried her face in her hands.

Meanwhile Lester couldn't believe he said that to Brittany, "Ugh, she must think I'm a creeper."

"What's a creeper, Lester?" Lester turned seeing Diesel looking at him with squinty eyes, as if trying to fire out something, "Is it a bad thing, are you a creeper?"

"No!" Lester said, looking down at the boy, "You're nosy, kiddo," he said crossing his arms, "I'm not a creeper."

"Sure…" Diesel said, going over to Lester and hugging his leg, "Why you talking to yourself?"

"I said something to Dr. Brittany," Lester said, ruffling Diesel's hair, "I don't know if it was a bad thing…"

"Really," Diesel said, looking over to Dr. Brittany with those squinty eyes again, "She looks like Deda does that one time I caught him in his bedroom, naked! He wouldn't explain and my brothers said he was beating up some hamburger, I think."

"Too much information," Lester said, glaring down at Diesel, "You! Stop being you!"

"Never!" Diesel looked over to Brittany and then to Lester, "You wanna kiss her? I know adults do those yucky lip kisses, you wanna kiss her like that."

"No, I don't wanna do that," Lester said, trying to shake Diesel off him, "Oi! Diesel, don't go spreading things like that!"

"Then you must be a creeper for Dr. Brittany!" Lester groaned as Diesel ran off to play in the waiting roon's play place with the other kids.

"Creeper, I'm not a creeper for Brittany," Lester turned to look at the doctor, who was now talking softly to Carlos and Stephanie, smiling softly to her, "She does have a pretty smile…"

Lester isn't a creeper.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"Come on, you two, talk to me, you're so wound up," Brittany said, sitting beside Carlos and Stephanie, "Now, talk, I don't like to see people I know down in the dumps."

Brittany leaned back in her seat, looking at Carlos and Stephanie who were looking at each other. Brittany looked around for a second and spied the door leading into a private room, "Come on, follow me."

Brittany led Stephanie and Carlos into the small room, closed the door and sat down on the desk, "There we go, now we can talk in private," she took out her pad and looked at the two, "You can-"

"I don't want Heidi to die," Stephanie said suddenly, looking up at Brittany, "I don't want the Doctor to come in and say that she didn't survive, or that she's in a coma and won't wake up. I don't want to-" Stephanie stopped herself, tears dropping down her cheek.

"It's okay, Babe," Carlos said softly, running his hand on her arm, "She's going to be okay."

"You don't know that! Her heart is weak, she's so small and frail, I don't want her to die, I don't want to lose another child," Stephanie confessed.

"Stephanie, you're going to have to trust the doctors, Dr. James Won is the best heart surgeon for children on the east coast, he knows what he's doing," Carlos said, pulling Stephanie into his arms and looking at her, "I have faith that she'll come out of this even better."

"I don't want her to die, I don't want another child to die," Stephanie sobbed, "I know I'm overreacting."

"You are not overreacting Stephanie, you are reacting naturally to this, based off the trauma you faced in the past," Brittany said, "You've created a bond with Heidi and you don't want that bond to be severed. You saw and experienced death right in front of you, and the person that died was very important to you, it's going to leave an imprint on your mind. Death is something that many people fear but don't get a first hand experienced until the end of their life, which is something we all strive for, a long, happy and healthy life."

"I don't want another one to die, I can't bear the thought of seeing another child die," Stephanie sobbed, gripping Carlos's shirt, "I know, I know she's not my child but it's like you said, Brittany, I've bonded with her, she's so sweet, she deserves to be happy."

"She does, every child does," Brittany said, nodding her head in agreement, "Stephanie, you are going to have to put faith in the doctors. Heidi is in capable hands. I know it's hard to do but she's in the best hands right now. Many people find praying to a religious figure to help them cope, or distracting themselves from the situation at hand by doing another activity. You are very wound up, it's not good for you or for Heidi."

"I know," Stephanie whispered, before she looked to Carlos, "Can we pray together, I think it might help."

"Whatever you want, Babe," Carlos said kissing Stephanie's forehead, "You know I'm not a praying man, but I can make an exception for you."

"You always make exceptions for me," Stephanie said, as Brittany got up to leave.

"It's because you're worth it."

"And that is my cue to leave," Brittany said, leaving the room and closing the door behind her, so that Carlos and Stephanie could pray together in privacy.

She leaned against the wall close to the private room and looked down, when she felt Diesel hug her legs, "Well hello there, Diesel, what can I do for you, young man?"

"I came to tell you that Lester is a big creeper for you," was all Diesel said, before running off, laughing.

"My age must be showing, but what in the world is a creeper?" Brittany asked herself as the boy ran off.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

It was around 7PM when Dr. James walked into the waiting room and over to the group, a smile on his face.

"She did great, her heart valve is fixed and we put the pacemaker in, she's in recovery right now, in about 30 minutes, a nurse can take you back to see her," Dr. James said looking at the group, "She'll be in here for 24 hours at least and after that, how she reacts to the pacemaker and medicine, she is free to go home."

"Thank you, Dr. James," Brittany said, as Stephanie let out a breath of relief, "We're hoping she can go home after day one."

"I understand," Dr. James responded, "Now, I have to go prep for another procedure, I'll set up a follow up appointment for Heidi and give the date to her primary nurse."

"She's fine, think goodness," Stephanie said, wiping her eyes.

"She's a fighter," Lester said rubbing Stephanie's shoulder, "She's got some good old Lester's fighting spirit in her."

"But she don't have your creeper spirit," Diesel said, earning a choking noise from Lester, "Nyeh!"

"I don't want to know," Ivan muttered, waving Diesel away.

Brittany tapped Ivan's shoulder and nodded her head, making Ivan nod his head. Now that surgery was over the more interesting things will start to happen. How interesting, however, was up to Heidi.

TBC…

* * *

So uh, Stephanie was close by when their kid died. I wonder how close. Hmm?


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13, enjoy!

Warnings: None

Disclaimer in chapter 1

Unbeated AF 3

* * *

**Christmas Wish**

**Chapter 13**

**Stuck**

* * *

"It's big!"

"I know kid."

"It's huge!"

"Yup."

"It's a mansion!"

"It's not."

"It's-It's empty, Lester, you need to fill it with stuff," Diesel said, crossing his arms, "You gonna sleep on the floor?"

"No," Lester said, raising an eyebrow at the boy, "First off, it just closed and second off, I had to wait for Rangeman to install security and now I have to paint and junk."

"Sure you do," Diesel said, sitting on the only box in the entryway, "Heidi's gonna live here too?"

"Yes she is," Lester said sitting on the floor, "I have to paint her room, get her bedroom and get her bedroom stuff but other than that, she can be in here in a week."

"So, she's gonna go in between Carlos and Stephanie and you?" at Lester's head nod Diesel frowned, "I'd get confuse really easy if I was Heidi."

"Well luckily, you're not Heidi," Lester said, as Diesel hopped off the box and went over to sit on Lester's lap, "You're heavy kid."

"You're just out of shape," Diesel responded, earning a hiss from Lester.

"Why aren't you over with Dr. Ivan and Heidi, why are you terrorizing me?" Lester asked, leaning back against the wall.

"Tests, I can't be in the way, Deda will get mad," Diesel said, as he picked at his pants, "They're very important so I have to wait around, and I saw you go into this house and followed along!"

"Of course," Lester said, but then he got a serious look on his face, "You think Heidi's going to like it?"

"Hmm," Diesel looked around for a minute and said, "Lots of space, lots of windows, I think she'll like it, can we pick her room out?"

"Hmm, I guess we can pick her room out, go on ahead," Lester said, making Diesel jump out his lap and race upstairs, "Ouch, thanks kid," he got himself and followed at a slower pace.

The house was nice, really big, almost too big but it was close to Carlos and Stephanie and that would be good for Heidi. He put in an offer, and it was accepted quickly. It helped he paid for the house in cash. He was now a homeowner, he was being a grown up, no more wild nights clubbing, no more random women, he had a child to look after, he was going to be the best co-parent out there!

It also helped that while all of this was happening he had to wrestle with his feelings about a doctor. Gods, Dr. Brittany was just, this…perfect being and he wanted to know more about her, he wanted to know what made her happy and sad, and what made her smile.

He could imagine himself being close to this woman and getting the shit analyzed out of him by that brain of hers.

Baby steps, Lester, baby steps. Lester climbed the stairs, watching Diesel run around in different rooms. First he sort of had to make his intentions known to the woman and not be a creeper.

"This one," Lester looked up from his thoughts and walked over to the room Diesel picked out. It was a room that had windows that looked out into the back of the house and into the woods. It was a nice size room, with its own bathroom and a walk in closet. There were plenty of windows for looking out.

"This is a good room," Lester agreed with the boy, looking around, "Kind of bland, we'll have to decorate it. Got any ideas?"

"Trucks."

"No."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"Sorry, Carlos, Stephanie," Dr. Ivan said, as he stood in front of Heidi's door, "These tests require some privacy-ah, more like secrecy."

"Dr. Brittany's not going to kill her, is she?" Stephanie looked over to Carlos, "Please, tell me she's not going to kill Heidi."

"No, she's not going to kill Heidi, what?" Dr. Ivan blinked, "It's just a few harmless tests, promise, it's just, they're secrets, Dr. Brittany and I can't just tell everyone!"

They'd be in deep shit, if they did, Ivan thought as Carlos frowned and took a step forward, "Carlos, you are going to have to trust me. We have not done you or Stephanie or Heidi wrong, but this is sensitive information."

Carlos wants to take down the man, go in and swoop Heidi up but, Ivan had a point. Dr. Ivan and Brittany haven't done anything off, not once. At this point, he is going to have to trust the man. Carlos is sure that whatever is going on in Heidi's room ,Ivan or Brittany would tell them, when the time, if the time came.

"Babe, let's trust Dr. Ivan, whatever is happening in there, it's not bad," he looked over to Dr. Ivan, "Right?"

"Right, very much so a safe, procedur-" Dr. Ivan turned as he heard a sharp cry from inside the room and a thud, "Shit."

Dr. Ivan opened the door and walked in, seeing Heidi sitting on the bed, eyes wide, unblinking, sucking her thumb. Dr. Brittany lay on the floor, in a crumpled heap, blood dripping from her ears, eyes closed. Stephanie and Carlos rushed over to Heidi, petting her head and asking if she was okay. Ivan went over to Brittany and rolled her on her back, saying, "Brittany, Brittany!" gently tapping her cheek.

Heidi let out a loud breath and then blinked her eyes, looking up at Carlos and Stephanie. She released her thumb and then looked over to where Brittany lay on the floor. She leaned against Carlos, letting the adults check her over. She wasn't hurt, she was fine.

Carlos gave Heidi to Stephanie and then went over to Brittany and checked her pulse, "She doesn't have a pulse."

"She's fine, stand back," Ivan said, placing his hand on Brittany's chest, "Trust me."

"But sh-" Carlos started but stopped as Ivan's hand began to glow a soft red. There was silence in the room until, Brittany let out a scream sitting up, her eyes wild looking.

"NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO!" She screamed, grabbing at her chest, "No more! It hurts, it hurts!"

She was sobbing and screaming, grabbing at nothing, her eyes wide, pupils blown. Ivan tried to talk her down but no amount of talking got through to her so he raised his hand and slapped her across the face, causing her to go silent, breathing harshly.

Dr. Ivan held Brittany close to him as she shook and whimpered, her thumb going into her mouth, "Too deep, you went in too deep, woman."

"What is going on?" Stephanie asked, looking over to Brittany and Ivan, "What was with the screaming?"

"It's a very long story," Dr. Ivan sighed, closing his eyes, "But you two have to promise me, that whatever is said from me and Dr. Brittany, from now on, stays between us."

Stephanie looked over to Carlos, who didn't even hesitate, "We promise, whatever is said, stays with us."

"Good, she's not going to come up for a bit, I'm going to take her downstairs," Dr. Ivan said, picking Brittany up with ease and walking her out the room.

Stephanie ran a hair through Heidi's hair, looking down at the child, who had yet to say a word. She wouldn't tell Carlos this but she swore, when she looked at Brittany, her eyes had been the same amber colored as Heidi's.

"Come on, Heidi, let's go get some snow and some hot chocolate," Stephanie said, helping Heidi out the bed, "I'm sure Dr. Ivan has something big to say to us."

"Kay," Heidi said, taking Stephanie's hand and leading her downstairs, where they went into the kitchen to get the promised things and then made their way to the living room, where the two men sat, Brittany lay on the couch, curled away from them, still whimpering and shaking.

"So," Dr. Ivan said, rubbing his hands together and looking at the group, "Do you know anything about Unmentionables?"

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

Dr. Brittany decided to wait a few days after Heidi came back from the hospital to test her. She planned it out with Ivan, Diesel would be busy, Ivan would watch the door and Brittany would do what she needed to do and hopefully be done in a few minutes, tests like theses were easy. An Unmentionable would show another Unmentionable their gifts and if an aura appeared, that meant that the other person was also an Unmentionable. If one didn't appeared, a quick memory wipe and Unmentionable who?

"Hey Heidi, so, instead of a regular session," Dr. Brittany started, sitting on the bed beside Heidi, who looked up at her, with those big eyes, "I want to test something out, it's not painful, we'll be done in a heart beat, okay?"

"Kay," Heidi said, as Brittany smiled at her and then leaned forward.

"Okay, sweetie, look at me," Brittany said, before she placed a hand on Heidi's hand and then suddenly, both she and Heidi were standing in the middle of whiteness. Brittany turned to Heidi and smiled, watching the girl tilt her head, sucking her thumb, "There we go, and you are shining like a lit firework!"

Brittany looked at the glow that surrounded Heidi and sighed, "Well, this is going to make thinks easier we can-" she stopped suddenly, when Heidi's hand wrapped around her wrist, "Heidi?"

The girl's breathing was coming out in heavy pants, the amber of irises were eaten up by her blown out pupils. Brittany tried to pull her hand away but Heidi only gripped it harder. She pulled her thumb out of her mouth and looked up at Brittany.

"Hewp," she whimpered and then Brittany was pulled into, what she could only assume was hell on earth.

She could feel it, the pain from the cold, from the whips, from the other things they used on her. It hurt so badly. She was always hungry and tired. Stressed from this life. Fear, she was scared, always scared. Terror from the big person that came once in a while. She didn't like the dark, she didn't like being alone but she was always alone.

She couldn't make out faces, she couldn't understand what they were saying, but they were always pointing to her, and when they spoke close to her that meant pain, it always meant pain.

But, these weren't Brittany's memories, these were someone else's. These were Heidi's memories, and if Brittany couldn't pull herself out of them, she would get stuck.

'Not real…pull yourself out Brittany!' She was trying to think over the pain and the vividness of the memories, '3 things you remember seeing in the room.'

She remembered the window, looking out into the vast woods, snow, white snow. She remembered the soft grey blankets on the bed and she remembered Mr. Hiss, the green plush snake. The memories were trying to sink her in deeper, but she couldn't let them.

'Now, two thing, what two things do you feel,' She could feel how soft the blankets were, and she could feel how soft and small Heidi's hand was, "What's one thing you can smell. Come on, Brittany, smell, smell!'

She could smell urine, vomit and blood and other things. The sharp twang from metals, the ozone from electricity. She could smell cigar smoke in the air. No, she couldn't smell that, those aren't real, what's a real smell, what's a real smell!

Brittany inhaled deeply and paused, smelling the scent of fresh snow, falling on a quiet winter night. She could feel something warm dripping out her ears and then with what strength she had left, pulled away from the memories.

It hurt so much to rip herself from the memories but the darkness that overtook her was almost heaven to her. She laid in the dark for a while before something jerked her away and when it did, it bought the memories, the ones from Heidi, now stuck in her head to the front and all she could do was scream and scream until finally a heavy blow to her face had her silent.

"….for a while," she could hear Ivan's voice, it was muffled, sounded so far away, and then she was being carried off. Where were they taking her? She felt something soft, a couch and then curled up in a ball, whimper and shaking, sucking her thumb.

She stayed that way for a while, before finally, the fresh, raw and painful memories found a place in her mind, locked away until she wanted them out in the open. She groaned at the sensation of bile and whatever she ate churning in her stomach. She sat up suddenly and said, in a rough voice, "I'm going to throw up."

She raced off the couch and made her way to the side bathroom, where she made it to the toilet, in which she threw up in. She let out groan, afterwards and pressed her hand to her throbbing head. She felt someone push a cup in her hand and Brittany looked up, with bloodshot eyes at Stephanie. She thanked the woman, cleaned her mouth out and then flushed the toilet, standing up afterwards.

"Are you okay, Dr. Brittany," Stephanie asked, as the woman grimaced, after looking at herself in the mirror.

"I'll be fine," she whispered, turning to Stephanie, "I just need a minute."

"You went in too deep," Ivan said to Brittany as she walked back into the living room, still shaky, "You almost got stuck, forced yourself out and nearly died in the process."

"Didn't mean too," Brittany said, sitting, wiping the blood off her ears with a sigh.

"So you're an Unmentionable as well?" Carlos asked, making Brittany glare at Ivan.

"They promised not to tell," Dr. Ivan said as Brittany sighed and leaned forward, "Plus, I had no choice, you were dead if I didn't do anything."

"Well, you're this far," Brittany said, turning to Stephanie and Carlos, "Yes, I am an Unmentionable. So, any questions for me?"

TBC…..

* * *

And begins our next journey, up next, a party and some familiar faces.


	14. Chapter 14

Friday night and I'm already half tired, fml, anyways, here's a chapter.

Warnings: None

Unbeated AF 33333

Enjoy

* * *

_Christmas Wish_

_Chapter 14_

_Tickets_

* * *

"People with super powers," Stephanie said, plucking a tomato from the salad bowl and eating it, "I don't believe it, still."

"I knew they existed, but it's like many things, with the government, classified," Carlos said leaning against the counter, "FBI, CIA, the military, you would hear whispers about people with unnatural strength or power, but I thought it was all a bunch of lies."

"It's kind of cool to know about something this big," Stephanie said, finally getting up and taking their dinner plates to the sink, "We know something that other people don't, of course, I can't say anything to anyone else."

"Or we'll risk Heidi," Carlos said, looking into the family room, where Heidi sat, watching TV, "I wonder what her gifts are."

"What if she never uses them?" Stephanie asked, as she started to wash the dishes, "What if she's an unmentionable and doesn't know how to use them?"

"I'm sure, Dr. Brittany and Ivan will help her with her gifts," Carlos said, s he put away what was left of dinner, "They're not weak Unmentionables, they seem strong and capable of teaching her things."

"What if she's too strong for them?" Stephanie whispered, raising her eyebrows.

"I'm sure they can help her, even if she's too strong for them or not," Carlos said as he helped Stephanie clean the kitchen up, "They've been doing this for a long time."

Stephanie kissed Carlos's cheek, dried her hands and then went into the family room to sit with Heidi. Carlos wiped his hands as well and watched the two. He thought about the conversation that occurred earlier that day and how much it changed everything.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"Unmentionables are people with gifts," Dr. Ivan said as Brittany fixed herself up, "These gifts can my psychic, physical, pretty much anything and can range in strength."

"So, super heroes," Stephanie said earning a huff of laughter from Brittany, "It sounds like a super hero thing."

"It does," Brittany said as she finally found her bearings, "But we're not heroes, heroes wear cape, I prefer jeans."

"We're just regular people with extra skills," Dr. Ivan said with a casual shrug, "Nothing cool about that."

"I've heard about Unmentionables, through passing in the military, thought you guys were a myth," Carlos said, earning a smile from Brittany.

"We're a myth? good, that means it's working, we can't just let anyone know about us, we work with the government and their little groups, but not on a daily basis, we put ourselves at risk when we come out of hiding to help governments," Brittany said, crossing her legs.

"We created the myth," Ivan said, looking over to Brittany, "The Unmentionables did, not us, personally, safer for us to not be a thing, than to be a thing at all."

"But why, you guys could change the world?" Stephanie asked, confused. If she was an unmentionable she wouldn't want to live in the shadows.

"Everyone thinks that, at first," Ivan began, his eyes clouded, "Good intentions but then people who lack the powers start asking for more and more and when we don't give it to them-"

"They get angry," Brittany added, "And then they get jealous."

"And then they start passing laws and rules against us," Ivan sighed, "And then, it's a matter of time, before they try to kill us, which is why we tend to live either hiding in plain sight or away from non unmentionables."

"I can see why the need for secrets," Carlos said, but then he frowned, "But you aren't hiding because you can get killed, are you?"

"No, we're not," Brittany rubbed her forehead, the head still buzzing in the back of her skull, "We're hiding because don't want to kill us, they want to enslave us and use our gifts for their gain. We have no problems helping governments, they pay us, we set our own rules but these groups, they have no care for that, they only care to use us to gain power."

Dr. Ivan nodded his head, "We've been trying to identify these groups but they're so deep in the dark and we're too afraid to send in spies because it's like they know who we are. We sent in a few people, they never came back," Brittany frowned at Ivan's words, "We take care of ourselves and keep watch, it's all we can really do now."

"Are you going to take Heidi now?" Stephanie asked, looking over to Heidi, who was looking at Dr. Brittany with big eyes.

"No, she's fine here, we're all fine, as long as we don't expose ourselves, we have to be safe, you have to be safe now, knowing Unmentionables can get you killed too," Brittany said, looking to Stephanie and Carlos, "It can be hard looking over your shoulder all the time, but you get used to it."

"So what are your gifts?" Carlos asked, looking over to Brittany, "Dr. Ivan is a healer, he told us while you were incapacitated."

"I'm an Empath," Brittany said, with a frown, "It's more of an umbrella title to my gift. I can feel people's emotions their feelings and I can also see their memories," She looked over to Heidi and then looked back to Carlos, "I also gain their memories as well, if I'm not prepared, and I used to not be prepared often, at the beginning, when I was learning."

"You got stuck way too many times," Dr. Ivan said, his eyes were dark, "Too many times, we don't have that luxury of someone who's able to pull you out, when that happens now."

"I know," Brittany said, closing her eyes, "I know it-"

"You can see other people's memories," Stephanie said, looking over to Heidi, "Did you see her memories."

Dr. Ivan and Carlos looked over to Brittany as well. If she tapped into Heidi's memories, she most likely saw who held the child captive, they could find them and bring them to justice. Brittany looked at the group and said, "I'm sorry, I-I don't want to talk about it, it's tucked away, in a box, unlike my memories, that I can look at with ease, tapping in the memories I gain isn't such a walk in the park, I can get stuck in my head, I can-a lot of things can happen, it's going to take time for me to look at Heidi's memories."

There was a moment of silence and then Stephanie said, "It's a start and that's all that matters, there's a chance we can help Heidi."

"That's the spirit!" Ivan said, getting up and looking over to Brittany, "Dr. Brittany, we should head out, it's getting late and I'm sure Diesel has annoyed Carlos and Stephanie's neighbor to climb up the walls."

Brittany nodded her head and stood up, grabbing her coat, "I'll be back the day after tomorrow for our sessions," she smiled at the three, "Take care," she turned to Heidi and just stared at her for a moment before, turning and leaving the room with Ivan.

Stephanie turned to Heidi as she said, in a soft voice, "Kay," holding tight to Mr. Hiss.

"Hmm?" Stephanie asked, Heidi, earning a blank look, "What was that, sweetie?"

Heidi sucked on her thumb, looking at Stephanie before going back to looking outside at the snow.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"So much to worry about," Carlos muttered to himself just as he phone rang, "Talk."

"Carlos," It was Tank, "It's that time of the year, the Rangeman annual Christmas Party. Shit, he forgot about the damn party, "I took care of everything, Carlos, just wanted to know if you and Steph were going, Lester, I think is bringing Heidi and a plus one, he wouldn't say who but, whatever, must be a new woman, you know how Lester is."

Carlos frowned as Tank wrote off Lester. Did they really know Lester? He seemed to have changed in the last weeks. He stopped dating as soon as he found Heidi. He's been over everyday, regardless of if he had things to do or not. The man even bought a house across from them just for the girl.

"I don't think you should write Lester off as a player, maybe it's someone he's close to," Carlos said as he leaned against the counter, "Like, I don't know, a friend."

"Who knows, you may be right," Tank said with a grunt, "Anyways, are you and Stephanie coming as well, I know the past three years, you haven't wanted to join, at this time of year."

Carlos looked over to Stephanie, who was counting something to Heidi, who looked extremely interested in the counting, "I don't know…I-" he sighed, "Tuck two tickets to the side, maybe, I can get Stephanie to join in on the fun."

"Alright, and don't worry about the tickets, I made sure to keep two tucked away," Tank said, before hanging up the phone.

Carlos walked over to the two and sat beside Stephanie, wrapping an arm around her, gently poking Heidi's nose, "Heidi, you're going to a party, and didn't tell me?"

Heidi blinked and sucked her thumb as Carlos poked her nose again. Stephanie looked over to Carlos, "She is?"

"Yes, Lester is taking her to the…Rangeman annual Christmas party," Carlos watched as Stephanie's shoulders tensed up, "I was wondering, if you want to join her and Lester as well."

"Carlos," Stephanie said softly, looking at the man, "I-I don't think I'm ready at all for that, I've been living as a recluse for three years, and, if our son can't enjoy it, why should I enjoy it?"

"What about our friends and family that are still alive?" Carlos asked, treading into dangerous grounds, "Do we forget about them too, Stephanie?"

"We don't, but.." Stephanie sighed, looking at the man, "Our son, what about our son?"

"Stephanie-" Carlos started but Stephanie got up and looked at the man.

"No, I don't want to talk about it," Stephanie said with a sigh, before walking out the family room.

"Damn it," Carlos sighed, rubbing his eyebrow, "I-" he looked down at Heidi who blinked up at him, "Oh-ignore that bad word."

Heidi took her thumb out her mouth and said, "Damn."

"Of course, you're a kid, you would say that word," Carlos muttered, looking at Heidi, who went back to sucking her thumb, leaning against the man, watching TV, "Of course, of course."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"Snow," Brittany said, looking around the room and then to Lester, "Let's paint a landscape, a snowy one."

"I-uh, that's actually a good idea," Lester said, going over to the woman, looking around the room, "Yeah! Just…where would we start?"

"Come here," Brittany motioned for Lester to come over to her and taking out her pad, "Look," she began to draw something quickly, "We can give her a day bed, push it against this wall," she looked over to Lester as she drew, "Paint some trees here and there, and snow, loads of snow."

She continued to draw and then picture slowly came together. Lester huff and said, "Damn, this looks great," he whistled and looked around, "So, we start now?"

"We let the crew paint, we'll go out and get some supplies, I'll drive," Brittany said, grabbing her purse, "We need some things from a craft store, and we should look for furniture for Heidi's room, right?"

"R-right!" Lester followed after Brittany, grabbing his keys and wallet, "Let's go!"

Brittany led Lester to her Tesla and climbed into the driver seat. Lester climbed into the passernger side and whistled, his eyes big, "Shit, this is a nice car, how much did it set you back?"

"Almost..100k," Lester whistled, as the woman started the car, "It's going to blow your mind when I put it on auto drive."

Lester watched as Brittany pressed something on the console and then the car was off, driving on its on. Of course Brittany didn't take her eyes off the road but she did talk to Lester as they drove. It was a short trip to the local strip store, where they spent a few hours furniture shopping and then eating lunch at a local soup shop.

"So, how did you get into therapy?" Lester asked, dipping his bread in a bowl of chili, "It couldn't have been an easy choice."

"I guess I have a gift with it," Brittany said as she ate her cheddar broccoli soup, "I like helping children with their mental problems, they deserve a second chance," she sighed, looking at Lester, "I try to help out where I can, when I can."

"A noble cause," Lester said, as Brittany ate her soup, "Shit, this chili is good."

"This soup is good," Brittany said, as she ate, "Thanks for paying for my lunch, such a good guy."

"You helped me out, you helped me pick out Heidi's room, my living room, family room, kitchen, my bedroom, shit, you furnished my house for me," Lester said, "Lunch, I think isn't thankful enough."

Brittany smiled and then went back to eating her soup. Lester, looked out the window and then looked over to Brittany and asked, "So, like there's a Christmas party, at the place I work at, we're going all out, this year, black tie and all, it's at a ritzy place."

Brittany looked over to Lester as she ate, before the man asked, in a rushed voice, "Would you like to go with me to the party?"

"I'm sorry?" Brittany asked as Lester looked flustered and mumbled something about a creeper.

"Will you, go with me, as my date to the Christmas pary?" Lester asked, this time more slowly, "Heidi's coming with me, Ivan and his family are coming, I don't know about Stephanie and Carlos but-"

"Yes," Brittany said as Lester continued rambling.

"And the food is going to be off the chain and-what? I'm sorry, did you say yes?" Lester blinked, looking at Brittany, who nodded her head.

"Yes, I'll be your date," Brittany set her spoon down, "I don't mind being your date, you're a good man, Lester, now, close your mouth and finish your chili, we have to think about our colors, for your house and for our date."

"Ma'am yes ma'am!" Lester said, saluting to Brittany before going back to eat his Chili.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"So Stephanie, how are things?" Brittany asked as she settled down in the living room with Stephanie, who sighed and played with a curl, "How are the antidepressants?"

"They're good, they're doing what they're suppose to do," Stephanie said, as she looked at the woman, "But, I was crossed with Carlos, he said something about a Christmas party, Rangeman hosts one every year. He said Lester and Heidi were going but then he asked if I wanted to go and, I shouldn't have snapped at him but…I said something about our son and he said something about our friends."

"Friends who most likely miss you and want to see you," Brittany said, tapping her fingers on her knee, "Stephanie, Carlos is right, you need to see your friends, you need to go out and see them," she leaned back, "I know, you think that if you're happy your son might not be happy where he is now. I can't tell you where he is but he's at peace and I think, that's the best happiness a person can get. You need to find peace, Stephanie, because you have a life that needs to be lived."

Stephanie looked at Brittany, who smiled sweetly and said, "Hmm?"

"…You're right," Stephanie sighed, looking at the woman, "You're right, you're right, but, it hurts still."

"That pain is never going to go away, Stephanie, the only thing you can do is find out how to live with this pain, to live with this agony because, like I said, if you let it, this pain will eat you from the inside out."

"So, I should go to the party?" Stephanie asked Brittany, who turned to the entryway seeing Heidi walk in, sucking her thumb and holding tight to Mr. Hiss.

"I oh-" Brittany grunted as Heidi climbed in her lap and settled there, "I won't tell you to go but, I'm going to kindly suggest you do, just for your sake, Stephanie. Carlos is a good support system and I know you've been burned by your mother after your son's death but, I'm 100 percent sure the people at this party want you there and want to help you with your grief."

Brittany let out a grunt as she stood, Heidi wrapping around her. She rubbed the girl's back and said, "You won't be alone, Ivan's family is going, you'll get to see his wife and his older sons, they're so handsome and sweet and it will be a good time for you to remember what you still have and what you stand to gain, besides, I will be there, if you need someone to talk to."

"Wait, you're going too?" Stephanie asked, as Brittany carried Heidi out the room.

"I am!" Brittany shouted into the living room, "Lester asked me to go with him and Heidi, I couldn't say no!"

"Lester and Dr. Brittany….huh," Stephanie sighed and then pulled her phone out, calling Carlos, "Hey Carlos, so, what should I wear to this party, is it formal or informal and did you know that Lester asked Brittany to the Christmas Party."

"Babe…spill the tea," Stephanie laughed and went into detail about what she learned.

TBC….

* * *

Not there yet, sorry guys, lol. Off to the trash heap!


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15, finally, FINALLY, they make it to the party

Warnings: None

Disclaimer in Chapter 1

Unbeated AF...33333333

* * *

_Christmas Wish _

_Chapter 15_

_A Rangeman Party _

* * *

"You look amazing, Babe," Carlos said as Stephanie came down the stairs, dressed in a soft blue gown with a matching throw over, "How did I get lucky with you?"

Stephanie blushed and walked over to her husband. The dress hugged her figure, clinging tightly to her in all the right places. She done her makeup up, piled her hair on top of her head in tight curls and wore a pair of 5 inch FMP. She hadn't dolled up in a long time. She looked good and she felt good, perhaps this was a good thing for her.

"How did I get lucky with you?" Stephanie asked as she walked over to Carlos and adjusted the soft blue bowtie to his Armani suit, "You're so handsome, I've almost forgotten how good you look in a tuxedo."

"And you look dazzling in that gown," Carlos said, leaning forward and kissing Stephanie on her painted lips, "Everyone is going to look at you twice."

"Please, no they won't" Stephanie said as Carlos helped her with her coat, "They might stare at me because I finally crawled out the cave."

"Don't say that," Carlos said as he led her out the front door and to the waiting limo, "They're going to swarm you because they love you, and they are concerned for you and missed you very much."

Stephanie climbed into the limo and settled in it, leaning against Carlos, once they were in there. She sighed and said, "I hope it's good, it should be good, right?"

"We're going to have a great time, no drinking, okay, remember what Dr. Brittany said," Carlos said as they drove down the street, "But I'm sure there's going to be things with no alcohol at the party, I've been told Dr. Ivan was invited and his broad will join him."

"I heard he has like…6 sons, I feel sorry for his wife, I wonder if they're all like Diesel?" Stephanie said, earning a chuckle from Carlos, "5 older Diesels, must be the worse."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

Lester looked down at Heidi, with a wide smile on his face as she spun around, showing off the golden princess dress he got her, "Jeez, look at you, you look like a princess,"

"I-I am a pwincess," Heidi said earning a laugh from Lester.

"Yes you are, and your speaking is growing by leaps and bounds!" Lester said as he fixed her bow, "Who is teaching to speak so well?"

"Bwittany," Heidi said looking up at Lester, before hiding behind his legs.

"Thank you so much for letting me use the guest room," Brittany said from the landing at the top of the stairs, "And for letting some random strangers in your house to do mine and Heidi's hair."

"It's no problem, I was here and-" Lester looked up to Brittany and stopped talking, stunned into silence.

Brittany looked down at him, with a confused look on her face, "Lester, are you okay," she asked as she made her way down the stairs.

Lester was so used to seeing Brittany in jeans, sweaters and sneakers that he couldn't believe how stunning she looked in formalwear. The dress she wore was a soft, golden princess gown that flared out only slightly , the sleeves hanging off her shoulders. She wore her hair down in soft curls and had even matched her make up with soft, golden earth tones.

"There's nothing on my face is there?" she asked, as she checked on Heidi and then looked over to Lester, "Why are you looking at me in that way?"

"I'm just, looking at how beautiful you look," Lester said, as Brittany spun and struck a pose, "Oh yeah, you're a knockout, all the men are going to be wishing you were their date."

"Aww, you're so sweet, thank you for adding fuel to my ego," Brittany said, grabbing Heidi's coat and helping her in it, "And you look good, I'll have to gift you more Versace suits, they're so dashing on you."

Lester helped Brittany in her coat, chuckling, "Woman, you're too much," he picked Heidi up and said, opening the front door, "After you, madam."

Brittany dipped her head and then walked out the door, making her way to her Tesla, "I guess you want to-"

"Yes I do, not even a question," Lester said, going over to the Tesla as well and putting Heidi in the waiting carseat, "I want to drive."

Brittany slid into the passenger seat and said, "After you, Sir."

"Now, how do you put this on auto drive?" Lester looked over to Brittany who snickered and helped him, "Thanks."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

This year's Rangeman's Christmas Party was hosted at a five star hotel on the other side of Trenton. They went out this year, as it was the fifth Christmas Party. Tickets were expensive but all the proceeds went to charities. This year, they had a live band playing Christmas music, food from a high class, Michelin Starred restaurant and a small area to take pictures. This year, Rangeman went out.

"It's so beautiful," Stephanie said, looking around the decorated ballroom, "Wow, Tank choose well," she looked at the people that filled the ballroom, "There so many young looking faces."

Carlos nodded his head in agreement, every year the newest members of Rangeman get younger and younger or was it, were they get older and older?

"I think we're just getting older, Babe," Carlos said, earning a gasp from Stephanie as he led over to where Tank sat, "What?"

"I'm not getting that old," She said, smiling at the man and then turning to Tank, "Tank, it's so good to see you."

"I should be saying that to you," Tank said, with a smile, getting up and going over to Stephanie, hugging her tightly. He whispered in her ear, "It's really good to see you glowing, little girl."

"I'm good to be here," Stephanie said, looking around, "You seem to be missing two people."

"Am I?" Tank said, just as a pink blur wrapped itself around his leg, "You've summoned her!"

"I wasn't summoned!" Ariana, Tank's 6 year old daughter said, looking up at her father, "I was coming back with Mama from the chocolate fountain. She says I need to wear a napkin, on account of I might get my dress messy."

"There's no might, you will get your dress messy," Stephanie turned to see Lula standing close by, holding a plate of food in one hand and a plate of chocolate covered fruit in her other hand, "We didn't spend 4 hours picking out this dress for you to get messy."

Lula looked at Stephanie, set the plates down, told Tank to get 'his' daughter straight and then nearly hugged the life out of Stephanie, "White girl, I missed the shit out of you! Don't you ever scare me like that again, ya hear?"

Stephanie let out a wheeze and hugged Lula back, "I'm sorry for ghosting you and everyone, Lula, I wasn't in a sound mind."

"No, after what happened, I wouldn't have been either," Lula said, letting go of Stephanie, smiling sadly, "But you ain't had to go at it alone."

Stephanie nodded her head, whispering, "I know that now," she fanned her eyes, "I can't cry, it took me too long to get this eye liner right."

"You look great," Lula said, leading Stephanie away from Carlos, "Come on, you should check out the spread, I told Tank Rangeman had to go all out this year, he didn't disappoint!"

"You look amazing yourself," Stephanie said, pointing out the soft pink dress Lula wore, "Have you lost more weight?"

Lula nodded, proud of herself. She had not only lose weight but her fashion, which used to e loud, was toned down and she looked great. She became a great wife and an excellent mother. Stephanie was happy that Lula, who came from a hard life, was able to find a better one and make better memories.

"Ariana," Carlos said, looking down at the 6 year old, "How are you?"

"Good, I'm ready for Santa to bring my presents, I asked for makeup, Daddy said Santa's going to get hurt if he brings me any."

"Darn Tootin," Tank said, looking over to his child, "But I think Santa won't get hurt if he bought you the Barbie house you wanted."

Ariana sighed but then was tucking in to her meal, distracted for now. Carlos sat down by Tank and said, "She's growing too fast."

"Way too fast," Tank looked at his child with pride and then frowned, "She also wants a little sister too, so does her mother."

"2 against 1," Carlos said as Tank shook his bald head and sighed.

"I'm not fighting against them either, I think having another baby would be great," Tank smiled, "Though, it's a shame you and Steph-"

"We're working through it," Carlos said, just as Bobby walked over to the table, "Brown."

"Bossman!" Bobby said, pulling the chair out for his wife, Mei, "It's great to see you, is Stephanie around?"

"Lula took her over to the buffet," Tank said, pointing to the area, "Good luck."

"Nah, I'll leave them there," Bobby said turning to his wife, "You want anything now, Mei?"

"I could use some food," Mei said, leaning over and kissing Bobby, "Sit here, I'll go get something for us," she smiled to Carlos, "It's great to see you out, Carlos, I'll bring Stephanie and Lula over here."

Carlos nodded his head in appreciation and Mei was off. Mei was lovely woman from Princeton that worked at the hospital as a Neurologist. She made much more money than Bobby but Bobby loved being a kept man.

"Now all we're missing is Santos," Bobby said, playing with one of Ariana's curls, "And we'll be complete," he looked over to Carlos, "And he's bringing Heidi, and a date?"

"He is," Carlos, looking at the men, "They should be here soon."

"Is he going to do what the young bucks are doing and bring some lovely eye candy?" Bobby asked, earning a chuckle from Carlos, "What?"

"You'll see," Carlos said, as the women came back with food, "The food does look good, Tank."

Stephanie handed Carlos his plate and the group began to eat, talking and laughing. Carlos and Stephanie sighed as they heard a battle cry and then Diesel was hugging Carlos, smiling up at him. Stephanie leaned over and ruffled the boy's hair, "Diesel! You look dashing in your suit."

"Thanks, Mama had to wrestle me in it," Diesel said, just as Dr. Ivan walked over to the table, his arm around the waist of a tall, blond woman, who looked as though she should be in magazines, "Right Mama?"

"Sadly," The woman said, smiling down at Diesel and then looking over to Stephanie and Carlos, "Dr. Ivan and Diesel talk about you two all the time.

"Please sit," Stephanie said motioning to a few chairs, "I've been told your other sons were coming too."

"They're around," Dr. Ivan said, pulling out a chair for his wife and then sitting, "I'm just concerned about the littlest one, he's the one who'll get into everything."

Diesel was in his mother's lap, having a staring contest with Ariana. Ariana sniffed and said, "I'm six."

"Me too," Diesel said proudly, "Can't boss me around."

"Can too."

"Can't!"

"Can!"

"Can't!"

"Can!"

"I like to see you try!" Diesel said, slipping off his mother's lap and running off, "I'm getting my brothers!"

"Baby!" Ariana said, jumping out her chair to chase Diesel, "Come back here!"

"Getting along just well," Dr. Ivan said, as his wife rubbed her forehead with the rest of the adults, "Oh, you didn't tell me Dr. Brittany was coming with Lester, they look good."

Every adult at the table turned to see Lester walking over to them, holding Heidi with one arm and the other arm wrapped around the waist of Dr. Brittany. Bobby whistled and said, "That's not an airhead piece of eye candy, how did he get Dr. Brittany?"

"Hey everyone," Lester said, walking up to the table and pulling out a chair for Brittany, and giving Heidi to Carlos, "Tank, damn, this party is swinging, you went out, this tear, with the planning."

Tank shrugged his shoulders while looking at Dr. Brittany who leaned over and greeted Dr. Ivan and Mei, like they were close buddies. She gave Stephanie nothing but praises, complimented Lula on her choice of color and outfit and then asked Heidi if she was hungry. She fit in so easily with the people at the table, it was like she knew them for ages. Though he was sure Mei and Brittany knew each other and Dr. Ivan and Brittany were working with Heidi.

Several minutes later, the children were back and settled down to eat their food. Heidi looked interested in Ariana but then Diesel's older brothers came and charmed the pants off both Heidi and Ariana, leaving a pouting Diesel as his brothers, all tall, blond hair and blue eyed, like their father, took them off to dance.

"Aww, it's okay," Brittany said, helping Diesel up and out of the seat, "You can dance with me."

"Okay!" Diesel quickly got up, grabbed Brittany's hand an followed her to the dance floor.

"She's great with kids," Lester sighed, earning a laugh from Bobby, "What?"

"She's a child psychiatrist, she knows how kids tick," Bobby said, wrapping an arm around Mei's shoulder, "She can get them wrapped around her fingers."

"Yes, she could but she's too busy wrapping someone else around her fingers," Stephanie looked over ro Lester's face, "Way too busy."

Lester flushed at the laughs he got and sighed, shrugging his shoulders, "She's smart, determined, pretty and pint sized, she may not be a leggy blond, but she's something better, now pardon me, I'm going to steal my date from the monster truck."

Lester gave them a salute and went off to get Brittany. Bobby helped Mei up and said, "Let's go dance," leading her away. Tank helped Lula up and the two went to dance as well. Stephanie looked over to Carlos and said, "Thank you," leaning in and kissing his cheek.

"Anytime Babe," Carlos said standing up, "Though, you could thank me with a dance."

"It would be my pleasure," Stephanie smiled and let herself be led to the dance floor.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

Stephanie hadn't had this much fun in a while. She danced with nearly every Rangeman there, danced with Ivan's sons (Brittany had been right, they were most likely heart breakers,) she danced with all the children and spent time laughing with her friends and enjoying themselves. She had found herself in many pictures, do different poses and by the time midnight came around, she was tired on her feet.

"Babe, not to alarm you, but there's something on your chest," Stephanie snorted, as she rubbed Heidi's back, the first sleeping victim.

"Yeah, and there's something on your chest too," Carlos shifted Diesel in his arms and said, "Where are his parents?"

"Still dancing," Stephanie said, pointing to the few couples on the dance floor, "I say let them enjoy being adults, they have six kids, must not get a lot of private time."

"They must not," Carlos agreed, as Stephanie leaned against him.

"I like this," Stephanie said, looking over to Carlos and motioning to the kids, "Small, sleeping bodies on top of us, surrounded by friends and family, perhaps we should host a party sometime soon."

"Are you up for it?" Carlos asked, just as his phone went off.

"I know I am," Stephanie turned her head as Carlos read the message his received, "Hmm?"

"Lester, we have Heidi tonight," Stephanie raised an eyebrow, "I know…"

"I don't need to spill that tea to know what's going to happen," Stephanie giggled, rubbing Heidi's back.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

The mistletoe did them in. Lester and Brittany has unknowingly stood under it and everyone had kicked up a fuss about it. They had to kiss, it was tradition. Lester had shrugged, in what he had hoped was a nonchalant way and said, "rules are rules, right?"

Brittany had sighed and said, "I suppose," and pulled Lester down for a kiss, their first kiss. It had been electrifying, even though it had just been a quick peck on the lips. Lester chuckled and looked away, while Brittany smiled behind her hand and mumbled about getting another drink.

Lester wanted another kiss. He danced with Brittany, took pictures with her and everyone else and then they spent the rest of the evening, tucked away, talking privately in nooks or dancing to the music. Lester led Brittany over to their waiting nook and two sat down, slightly out of breath from dancing.

"I had a good time, Lester," Brittany said tucking a stray curl back into place, "Thank you for taking me as your date."

"Yeah? Well, I had a great time with you too, Brittany," Lester said, his voice getting lower, "And I would be lying if I said I didn't want another kiss."

"…and I would be lying if I said I didn't want another one too," Brittany said, her hands on Lester's chest, "I suppose we could-" she didn't finish her statement because Lester was kissing her. It wasn't like that peck under the mistletoe, this one was all lips, passionate, it had Brittany's nerves on fire. She wrapped her arms around his neck and felt his arms snake around her waist, pulling her closer to him. Their kissing grew heavier, his hands slid down her waist, his lips found her neck, she let out a moan but then pushed at Lester.

"Wait!" She panted, looking at him, "We're in a public place."

"I booked a room," Lester said suddenly, "I uh-thought I was going to be too drunk to get home, I didn't book it because-"

"I have an IUD," Brittany said, cutting Lester off, "I'm sure you have condoms."

"I do," Brittany pulled away from Lester and stood, "Does this mean?"

"Yes, it means we're going to have sex," Brittany said, grabbing Lester's hand, "I have an overnight bag in the Tesla, I thought we would be going back to your place, but this works."

"Yes it does," Lester said, standing and leading Brittany out the ballroom, "Wait, I'll send Carlos a text, he can take Heidi."

"Good, because we're going to a bit sore in the morning," Brittany giggled but then shrieked as Lester picked her up and carried her to the elevator, "You cad!"

"I'm your cad," Lester joked, leaning in and kissing Brittany.

TBC….

* * *

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) Oh ho ho ho ho, what's this? Smut? Idk, if you guys want it, it'll happen. Off to the trash heap! ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16, I had some papers due this weekend and I went to a party, turn up! Anyways, it's in here guys...we figure out how their son died. *ducks for cover*

Warning: mild smut, not even smut, mentions of smut, not full blown smut, it almost went there. Should have gone there.

Disclaimer in chapter 1

Unbeated AF 333333333333333

* * *

_Christmas Wish_

_Chapter 16_

_Forgive me_

* * *

Heidi sat up in bed, breathing harshly, gripping Mr. Hiss hard, her eyes wide. She had another bad picture. She didn't like the one she had, she didn't understand it but it felt bad. Really bad, and she didn't want to be alone tonight.

Heidi slid out of the bed and, taking Mr. Hiss with her, left out the bedroom and down the hallway. She opened the door to the room she went to and slipped in. This is first time she's done this, but Dr. Brittany said she was allowed to do this, she was allowed to seek comfort from adults, when she was scared.

Inside the room, there was a small light on, and Carlos was awake, still, reading a book, while Stephanie curled up close to him. Carlos looked up from his reading to see Heidi standing by the door, holding Mr. Hiss, "Hey, Heidi, what are you doing up, I thought the party wore you out?"

Heidi bit her lip and said, in a soft voice, "Bad picture…."

"A nightmare?" Carlos asked, getting out of bed and going over to Heidi, who nodded her head, "Oh, come on, you can sleep in our bed, I know that made our son feel better, after he had a bad dream."

Carlos picked Heidi up and carried her to the bed and tucked her in beside Stephanie, who was now up, wrapping her arm around Heidi and pulling her close. Carlos climbed in and snuggled close to Heidi, asking, "Feel better?"

"Yes," Heidi whispered, snuggling against both adults. She looked at Carlos and whispered, "Bad picture…bad men," she paused to think about the right words to say, "Do bad things to you," she whispered, "Bad men, take me."

They won't come here, Heidi," Stephanie whispered, looking down at the girl.

"They come soon," Heidi said, softly, before yawning and closing her eyes to sleep.

Stephanie looked at Carlos and said, in a soft voice, "I'm concerned," she rubbed Heidi's chest.

"I am too, I'll call Dr. Ivan and Brittany in the morning," Carlos said, leaning back on the bed, "They'll help us out."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"You're so beautiful," Lester said, closing the door behind him as Brittany stood before him, in that golden gown, "Shit, I'm so fucking lucky."

"Yes, aren't you lucky," Brittany said as Lester walked over to her and kissed her deeply, "I want this, do you?"

Lester nodded his head, taking off his suit jacket, after kissing Brittany, "If a swat team came in here right now, I'd take them all down by hand, is how much I want this," he pulled his bow tie off and unbuckled his belt, pulling it off and tossing it to the side.

Brittany took off her necklace and her earrings and set them to the side, before she pulled at the front laces holding her dress up and let her dress fall to the ground, stepping out of it, letting Lester roam her bare form with his eyes. She pulled her hair back and smiled, kicking off her pumps and going over to Lester, helping him take off his shirt as they kissed. She ran her hands down his toned chest and let out a gasp as he lifted her up , wrapping her legs around his waist and carrying her to the bed, letting out a grunt as he laid her on it. She lifted herself up on her elbows and watched as he took his pants off.

"Is that going to fit?" Brittany asked, licking her lips, looking down at Lester's erection.

"Let's find out," Lester said, climbing on top of Brittany.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

Brittany let out a sigh, opening her eyes, and tturned on the bed, looking at Lester, who leaned against the backboard of the bed, one arm covering his face, his free hand playing with Brittany's shoulder. She lifted her head up from the bed and kissed his chin, saying, in a husky voice, "That was amazing."

"I think the neighbors complained about your yelling, I'm not too sure," Lester said, causing them both to laugh, "Too busy fucking to get up and answer the door."

Lester lowered his arm and looked at the woman, who looked back up at him, "What does this mean, about us?"

"It means," Brittany paused for a second and fluffed her ruined curls out, "It means we should be official, I am sure sex should have happened later on, we're just skipping steps."

"How about I take you on a real date later on?" Lester suggested, pulling Brittany to him, running his hands down her back, "Somewhere with a ice skating rink, hot chocolate and nice, slow booty massages," he pat her bottom, "Because I know I'm going to fall."

"What about me?!" Brittany asked, sitting up, with a smile, "I can't skate worth a shit either!"

"Eh, we can massage each other," Lester leered, pulling Brittany on top of him, bringing his groin up to her mound, "Mmm, I think we still have a condom or two that we didn't use."

"Wait," Brittany said as she looked at the man, leaning back, "I-I have something to tell you," she sighed, "Please, if I tell you something, will you keep it a secret?"

"Sure," Lester said, his fingers running up and down Brittany's back, "Anything you want to tell me, I'll keep it to myself."

Brittany rested in Lester's lap and asked, "Have you ever heard about Unmentionables?" she watched Lester's face morph in confusion.

"Yeah…I mean, where I worked at in the government, you hear a bunch about those people, but, it's a myth, made up by the CIA, the NSA to scare bad guys, or whatever," Lester snorted, wrapping his arms around Brittany's waist, "Boogeymen is what they are."

"What if I were tell you that we're not just boogeymen," Brittany asked, softly, looking away.

"We're not-" Lester started but then stopped looking at Brittany, "Brittany, Brittany…are-"

"You're confused, but full of adoration and love," Brittany said, her eyes closed, hands resting on his chest, "A little shocked, but, no negative emotions," she opened her eyes, "That doesn't really give you a thorough example of my gifts."

Lester stared at her and then Brittany started to squirm, saying, "Lester, please, say something."

"So, you're an Unmentionable?" He asked slowly, earning a nod from Brittany, "So, you like…have super powers."

"I guess you can call them those," Brittany said, frowning, "I mean I wouldn't-"

"My girlfriend is a superhero," Lester laughed, pulling Brittany tighter to him, earning a squeak from said woman.

"Now, look here, I'm not a hero," Brittany sighed, crossing her arms, "I'm as human as you are, just with extra things…" she sat up and ground against Lester, "I'm an empath, I can read emotions, see memories, and sometimes, just sometimes, I can project my emotions to other people, but that's very intimate, and I wouldn't do it with just anyone, maybe my child and lover."

"A lover eh?" Lester asked, waggling his eyebrow, "How intimate is it?"

"It depends, if I did it with my child, it would be like, an extra tight hug, extra tokens of affection," Brittany said, looking thoughtful, "But, with a lover, it can be like sex."

"Really?" Lester asked, his voice lowering, "Could we, you know, try mind sex?"

"You are not labeling it mind sex!" Brittany scoffed slapping Lester's chest, "No, you are not."

"Yes I am!" Lester said, rolling Brittany under him, "I'll just have to convince you with physical sex that it is mind sex."

"Of course you will," Brittany sighed, dramatically, "I'll just have to lay here and take it, won't I?"

"Up to you, but I'll make sure you scream again," Lester said, reaching out for a condom.

He did make her scream several times.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"We'll be fine," Brittany said to Stephanie as she and Heidi got situated on the couch, "It might look frightening at first, but after watching me do it, several times over, it'll be like, 'Oh, she's just lost in someone's mind."

"Okay," Stephanie said, as Brittany turned to look at Heidi, right in her eyes and then jumped as both Heidi and Brittany slumped back on the couch, their eyes closing, "Holy-she wasn't lying."

Their eyes moved behind their eyelids, their fingers twitched but other than that, they remained motionless, lost to the world, inside their minds. Brittany told them that now that they knew Heidi was an Unmentionable and very receptive to Brittany's abilities, it was easier for her to go in and help her learn to speak and voice her emotions.

"It's like tapping the direct source of something, you get more and you give more," Brittany said, frowning, "Or something like that."

Whatever she meant, it was a good thing because Heidi was improving by leaps and bounds, she was speaking more, expressing her emotions often and showing off a personality that was uniquely Heidi. She struggled with her education but she was slowly improving and that's all the adults really cared for.

They were concerned about the nightmares she was having. She was having them on a nightly basis and it was always the same thing, the bad people were coming and she was scared. Carlos and Stephanie told and Brittany who were looking into it. Brittany going so far as to skim the edges of Heidi's mind but finding nothing. They did take precaution though, how they did it, they won't tell Stephanie and Carlos.

"At least she's not getting stuck," Dr. Ivan said, walking into the family room with Diesel and his work bag, "There's literally no one around a 4,000 mile radius that could get her out."

Stephanie frowned and rested her chin in her hand, "What does 'stuck' really mean, I mean, I know it can mean she's stuck in someone's head but how?"

"Woo, asked the wrong person, but I can try," Dr. Ivan said, giving Diesel his schoolwork and taking out a piece of paper, "So, let's look at an onion, it has layers," he draws an onion, "And with layer you can peel it back," Stephanie nodded her head, "This onion is your mind," Dr. Ivan said, "The deeper you go, the smaller it gets, if Dr. Brittany goes too far in, she can get stuck, which means she can get confused, memories that aren't' hers, she thinks they are her memories and she gets confused and forget how to get out of them. I've seen it happen a few times."

"I see, so, that time we saw her on the floor, bleeding out her ears," Stephanie asked, earning a head nod from Ivan.

"She sort of got stuck," Ivan said, "And when she gets unstuck, you can usually tell she was almost trap. She'll project the person's emotions, feelings, thoughts, struggle to figure out which emotions are hers, she'll have to come down from it, often she crawls into bed and meditates."

"Ivan," Stephanie whispered, leaning forward, "That time she almost got stuck in Heidi's head, when she opened her eyes, they were an amber color."

"That happens often," Ivan said, frowning, "The mind is a powerful thing, Stephanie, if Brittany was stuck in Heidi's mind to for too long, or saw some vivid things it can cause a bleeding affect in which Brittany gains physical attributes. They fade quickly though."

"I see," Stephanie said, just as Brittany let out a groan and sat up, rubbing her temples, "Finished, already, it's only been 20 minutes!"

"I don't need an hour, in her head, I only need moments," Brittany said as Heidi opened her eyes, blinking owlishly, "It's complicated."

"I'll say," Ivan said as Heidi slid off the couch and walked over to him, "Hello Heidi, how are you today?"

"…I want Marcus," Heidi said simply, earning a yowl from Diesel. Marcus happened to be Diesel's eldest brother that had charmed Heidi at the party.

"Marcus?" Ivan laughed as he helped Heidi to the table, "He's at home, I'll tell you what, I'll bring my boys over after Christmas, okay?"

"Kay," Heidi said as Diesel scooted his chair over to her, a dark look on his face.

His face pinched and he said, "You don't want to hang out with Marcus, you wanna hang out with me, I'm not a snotty person, Marcus is!"

Heidi looked over to Diesel, sucking her thumb. She pulled it out and said, "Gonna marry Marcus."

Everyone laughed at Diesel's yowl of rage but then Ivan calmed the children down and got them doing classwork. Brittany laughed softly and then said, "Stephanie, let's go walk outside."

The woman agreed and then she and Brittany were bundled up against the cold, walking through the snow. They were halfway across the front yard when Brittany spoke.

"You seemed to have fun at the party, a few days ago," She said, tucking her hands in her pockets, "I haven't seen you smile so much in such a short time."

Stephanie smiled softly, looking out at the woods, "Yeah, you're right, I had a blast," she closed her eyes. After the party, Mei and Lula had been adamant that she join them this weekend for a girl's day out. She kept in contact with them now, they wanted Ariana, Heidi and Diesel to have play dates, they wanted to do family trips together and she wasn't sad about it, or antsy about it. She felt like she was making progress.

"It's wonderful to see you branch out your support system," Brittany said, as they got closer to the end of the front yard, "I know the medicine is helping you, and Carlos is such a wonderful husband," she paused as they found themselves in front of the sleek black stone that memorialized Stephanie's son, "Let's go-"

"Carlos doesn't know how he really died," Stephanie said, crouching down, wiping snow off the stone, "He heard me scream, but he-he didn't see what happened." She stood up, tucking her pants, "No one knows but me, no ones saw him breathe his last breath but me."

"I'm sorry, Stephanie," Brittany said, softly, walking up to the rock, feeling strong emotions coming off it. She could feel grief and rage and agony, they were such strong emotions, dangerous to an empath, if they weren't careful.

Stephanie let out a sob and whimpered, "Why did he have to die, he was my baby, our one in a million," she crouched down in the snow, tears falling from her eyes, "No one knows what happened but me, but me and the cops, and I told them-I told them that if they went to the news about the details, I would sue them, we had our lawyers draw up gag orders, because I didn't want anyone to know, to make us become that family, to use us for their gain."

Brittany crouched in the snow besides Stephanie as she finally told someone how her son died.

"Ricardo 'Ricky' Carlos Manoso," She read off the stone, "Only 4 years old when he was stolen from me," Stephanie wiped at her eyes, "Taken from me!"

She slammed her fists in the snow, her emotions breaking free. Brittany could beat money she hadn't had time to let her emotions to the front, which is why she was raging now.

"It's okay," Brittany said, rubbing Stephanie's back, the emotions building up like a wave that was about to come crashing down, "Let it all out."

"Out here, by this fence, we were…were putting up decorations, he wanted to put the bow on himself, he was a big boy, he could put it up himself, and-and the dumbass I am, I let him," Stephanie sobbed, burying her face in her hands, "I was there, I was there! Close to him!"

"You are not a dumbass," Brittany said softly, "You are not."

"I am, I should have told I would do, I should have been the one to do it!" Stephanie wailed, looking up at Brittany, "He would be alive then! That-that car came out of nowhere, in this quiet neighborhood, why did those kids have to use our road as a race track, why did they have to lose control in front of my house, and hit my child!"

"You didn't know," Brittany said, feeling overwhelmed by the emotions coming from Stephanie, "You didn't know those teenagers were using this road as a race, you didn't know."

"We complained to the cops," Stephanie sobbed, "They did nothing! Damn those kids, they took my son from me, and they-they didn't even look remorseful in court, they didn't care that they dragged him across the street, they didn't care that he died in my arms, calling out for me, his mommy, and I couldn't do anything! They didn't care, no one cared! No one did anything!"

Brittany ran a hand down Stephanie as she broke down, she needed this. This deep rage and anger that she kept back, she needed to let go of it.

"I HATE THEM," Stephanie screamed, "I hate them, I hate them, I hate them!"

"You're allowed to hate them," Brittany said, softly, as Stephanie wailed, but she lifted the woman's face up, "But you know what, this hatred, is never going to leave, it will always stay with you and if you don't deal with it, it's going to sink in too, deep, and never let you go, do you know how you can let go of all this hatred?"

"No," Stephanie whispered, looking at Brittany, who smiled kindly at the woman.

"Forgive yourself," Brittany said, softly, looking at the woman, "You may say that you hate them, and there is hatred for them, but there is a lot of hatred against yourself and I will tell you something, when you learn to forgive yourself, you'll learn to forgive others, it won't be an overnight thing, forgiving yourself is going to take time, but I swear to you, Stephanie, that when you forgive yourself, everything clicks."

"It's so hard," Stephanie whispered as Brittany motioned for her to stand, "I can't..I can't forgive myself."

"You can and you will," Brittany said, leading Stephanie to the house, "You have to."

Brittany let Stephanie into the house and then stopped, turning to look out into the expansive whiteness, uneasiness filling her body. She looked around once more and then entered the house.

She sure as hell didn't like that feeling.

TBC….

* * *

Time to pick thing up, and I oop to the trash heap!


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17, enjoy! Sorry about the delay, it's that time of the year again!

Warnings: None

Disclaimer in chapter 1

unbeta AF 33333333333

* * *

Christmas Wish

Chapter 17

Closer to Forgiveness.

* * *

"I feel…." Heidi hummed, picking up the marker and looking at the plastic mat, "I feel…" she crinkles her brow, "Not happy, I feel not mad….I feel not scared,"

Brittany hummed as she held her hand out to Heidi, who took it, "Can I feel how you feel?"

"Kay," Heidi said, as Brittany gently grabbed her hand and held it, her eyes closed, "I feel…"

"Worried, you're worried and nervous," Brittany said, in a soft voice, "Anxious, you feel like something bad is about to happen, but you don't know what."

The doctor opened her eyes and said, "It's okay, Heidi, I feel that way too," she bit her lip, looking out the window, as Heidi went back to sounding out her alphabets.

The uneasiness did not let up. She had been feeling like this since the day Stephanie had a break through and broke down. It was like someone was watching them. She knew Heidi was having nightmares, every night now. Carlos and Stephanie told her as much, as did Lester. Not only was Heidi on edge, but so were Stephanie, Carlos, her and Dr. Ivan. Diesel was more prone to outbursts as well, as if he could sense it too.

Danger was close, too close. They weren't safe.

Brittany ran a hand over her face and leaned back in her seat, looking up at the ceiling, what were she and Ivan to do? They were so few little choices and the choices they had, she didn't like.

She let out a startled yelp as hands covered her eyes but she relaxed when she heard Lester ask, "Knock knock?"

"Who's there?" Brittany asked, earning a noise of confusion from Heidi.

"It's Lester!" Heidi exclaimed happily, making Lester click his tongue.

"Of course I'm here, silly bunny, let's let Dr. B answer the question, okay?" Lester said, gently pinching Heidi's nose.

"Hmm, kay!" Heidi nodded her head, sticking her thumb in her mouth.

"Now, knock knock?" Lester asked, looking down at Brittany's covered eyes.

"Who's there?"

"Piece of-"

"Piece of who?"

"Piece of pizza, I bought lunch," Lester uncovered Brittany's eyes and pulled her up, "I know you hard, working women must be hungry."

"We are," Brittany said, turning to Heidi, who nodded her head and closed her book, "Let's go eat."

"I want up," Heidi said, going over to Lester and holding her arms up, "Please?"

"Very good use of your words and the word please," Lester said, lifting his favorite girl up, "You're getting bigger, can't feel your ribs," he looked over to Brittany and grabbed her hands, "Come on, Doc, let's go feed the hungry princess."

They settled at the kitchen island to eat. Brittany cut up Heidi's pizza, while Lester tucked into his own pie. He told Brittany he could eat a large by himself. Brittany tsked and grabbed her fork and knife to eat her slice.

"You're nearing 40, you shouldn't be eating whole pizza pies by yourself," she said, giving Heidi something to drink, "I can feel your arteries clogging from here."

"Don't worry, doc, I'll work it off tonight," Lester said, leaning over and covering Heidi's ears with his hands, "We'll work it off together, between the sheets."

"Lester!" Brittany gasped, as Lester let go of Heidi's ears, with a wink, and went back to scarfing down pizza slices, "You are such a cad!"

"Your cad," Lester said as he continued eating, "I got something else too, if you're okay with another break."

"I think we're done with today, Heidi did Dr. Ivan's homework and we worked on our feelings and expressing them and she's been using her words too," Brittany said, wiping Heidi's hands and face as she ate, "I think we can have an afternoon to ourselves."

"Good," Lester said, finishing the last slice and folding the box up with ease, "I think we're going to have fun."

"Oh really, I hope we have a blast," Brittany said, looking outside at the snow, "Hmm, I think we're going to have a true winter Christmas, I hope it snows again."

"I hope so too," Lester said as Heidi pushed her plate into the sink that rested on the island as well, "We can make an igloo and live in it for a few days."

"You can make an igloo and live in it for a few days, I'm not, you're mad," Brittany corrected him, putting Heidi's cup in the sink after she was finished, "Live in the cold, I'm not that crazy."

"It'll be nice and warm," Lester covered Heidi's ears again, earning a huff from the girl, "I'll keep you nice and warm too."

"Lester, you cut that out and go get whatever it is you want so we can get started," Brittany exclaimed as Lester slid off the island chair, laughing, "What are we going to do with Lester, Heidi?"

"I don't know," Heidi said, as Lester left them and then reappeared with some items, "What's that?"

"You know what, we've been living here for a few weeks," Lester said, looking around, "It's Christmas time, how about we decorate the place up!"

"That sounds like fun," Brittany said, turning to Heidi, who looked at them with big eyes, "I think Heidi will love it too!"

"Alright, come on, kiddo, let's add some Christmas spirit to this place," Lester said, as he went into the garage and dragged in a live Christmas tree, "We need to set this up first!"

"You guys have fun, I'm going to make some calls," Brittany said, pulling her phone out, watching the two run off into the living room. As soon as they were gone, she dialed Ivan.

"Nothing," Ivan said after picking up the phone, "Nothing, no one knows who this group is, that might be after Heidi, it's like they're ghosts."

"We just have to dig deeper," Brittany said, as she looked down at her notepad that was filled with notes, "So, this is what we know, they were training her to withstand extreme cold, that could mean they were working for someone who lives or works in a cold area, they pretty much tortured her to use her gifts, which means they're ruthless, we don't know anything about them-"

"Which means they're ghosts," Ivan finished off, "Which…which is dangerous. Brittany, we should move underground."

"We can't, our roots are too deep and if you think that Lester, Carlos and Stephanie are going to let us take Heidi with us if we go into hiding, you're crazy, Ivan, Heidi's ingrained in their lives now, our lives too, and your family, Ivan, we've done this once, it wasn't good when they were kids, and it's going to be worse now that they're almost adults."

"….Damn it," Ivan sighed, "Well, we're going to have to look into something, this unease has become permanent in our house and Diesel and the boys, they're-they're really feeling it now."

"We'll think of something Ivan," Brittany whispered, looking into the living room and watching Lester cover Heidi in ugly garland, "But, we can't split us up, we'll work through it."

Brittany and Ivan said their goodbyes and then hung up the phone, just as Lester cam walking in, holding a thing of mistletoe. He held it over Brittany's head and kissed her gently, saying, "I got this too."

Brittany smiled at him and then said, in a soft voice, "Wasn't it this that led me into your arms?"

"Hmm, you're right, I should buy more of these," Lester said, earning a laugh from Brittany, "Come, let's go help Brittany decorate the tree."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

Carlos had been mildly surprised when Stephanie walked into his office at Rangeman and asked him if he would accompany her to her parent's house for lunch. She said that her mother invites her to lunch nearly everyday but Stephanie ignores the calls. This time, however, she didn't and told her mother she would be there.

"Is this part of the healing process?" Carlos asked as he got up, put his coat on and made to follow Stephanie out the office.

"It is," Stephanie said, grabbing Carlos' hand, "In order for me to move, I have to forgive people, I have to forgive myself, my mom was-well…"

"You don't need to tell me," Carlos said, remembering the 'help' Stephanie's mother, the weeks after the death of their son. He had to kick her out their house and then Stephanie said that she wasn't allowed back. Stephanie's mother almost made the two of them split up.

The drive to the home of Stephanie's parents was silent, each lost in their own thoughts. The radio was on, and the weather person spoke of an incoming snow storm that was looking to be a blizzard. White Christmas indeed, they might get snowed in if they weren't careful.

Helen plum waited for them, leaning against the pole of the front porch. She had a shawl wrapped around her shoulders. Grandma Mazur was absent, most likely off with her friends at the hair salon, or gods know what her crazy posse did.

"Come on in, it's too cold to be out here," Helen said ushering Carlos and Stephanie in, leading them to the dining room, where lunch sat, along with a large pineapple upside down cake. Her mother was really trying to butter her up. She wasn't going to take this bait.

As they ate lunch, Helen Plum began to talk. She was glad to see Stephanie out of this funk, that she was out and about now, and that she glad to have time for them. Stephanie let her mother talk and then said, "Mom, I came here for me, not for you."

She set her fork down and closed her eyes, thinking of the words to say, "Mom, after Ricky's death, you weren't the best support system. You swept in, like a hurricane and you left destruction along your path. You blamed me for Ricky's death, you blamed Carlos, you caused us to fight, you almost broke our family up, during our time of grief. You called me an awful mother for letting my son try to use what independence he had and you called Carlos an awful father for letting me let our son test the waters. He was four, he wanted to be a big boy, we were in a safe place but there were things that happened that were out of our hands. When we kicked you out and pushed you out of our lives, you tried to force your way back in. That trip we did, the shopping one, if didn't help, I thought that if I went with you, you would stop the calls, it didn't work."

Stephanie looked hard at her mother, "I want to hate you, I want to forget you but that doesn't help me, it doesn't help Carlos and it doesn't help Ricky. I'm forgiving you for you actions, but not because it will help you sleep at night, it's to help me move on."

Stephanie stopped speaking and looked at her mother, who looked down at her plate, with a sigh and then opened her mouth, "Stephanie…I did you wrong, I did you wrong, I did Carlos wrong and I did Ricky's memory wrong as well. I remember that day, that I blamed you both for his death. I thought, who would let their child get hit by a car, who would let their child die? After you both pushed me out, I went to Frank and told him what had happened. He exploded, asked if I had any empathy and that if he was in your shoes he would have done the same thing."

"Ricky's death was the by product of teenagers with no common sense," Helen continued, looking at the two, "Not you or Carlos were at fault. I-I'm sorry Stephanie for belittle you and Carlos I'm sorry for putting you both down, you didn't deserve it. I know you are forgiving me, but I still don't think I deserve it, after what I put you two through."

Stephanie sighed and looked to Carlos as if to say 'Help me, please!'

"We forgive you," Carlos said, looking at his mother in law, "but that doesn't mean we'll let you in our lives so easily. There's still hurt there, along with mistrust, it's going to take some time for that to heal. We only came so that Stephanie could find some closure, this is going to be on Stephanie's terms, not yours. If you step out of line, I don't care, I won't let Stephanie be exposed to your tendencies anymore. I'm going to be the husband that I am, and protect her."

"I understand, Carlos," Helen said, looking at the two, "A chance is all I need."

They finished the conversation there and Carlos and Stephanie left. Stephanie looked over Carlos and said, in a soft voice, "I feel lighter already."

"Good," Carlos said as they drove out of the 'Brug, "I want you to feel better, I wasn't lying when I said I would protect you from your mother."

"I know, you always keep your promises," Stephanie said, leaning over to Carlos and kissing his cheek, "Thank you."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

They sat, from a distance, watching the woman climb out the dark red Tesla and over to the store front. She seemed to stop and look to and fro, before walking into the store and out of the cold. They were in a non-descript sedan, keeping a sharp eye on the woman, the Unmentionable they managed to track down.

It had been purely on accident. They had picked up a spike of activity in the US on the east coast and managed to track it down to her. It wasn't the child they were looking for but, it was an extra bonus, if they were able to get this one, maybe the boss wouldn't be so pissed.

"An empath," One of the people in car hummed, looking down at the readings on the item they held in their hand, "A powerful one too, but they tend to have weaknesses, right?"

"Yeah, she's not going to be able to pop in and out like talking about it," Another person said, "Too much going on in their head to concentrate. She's a bit on the short side."

"Who the fuck cares about her height, she's an Unmentionable and the boss wants female Unmentionables too, might get him off our back dealing with the fucking brat."

"For maybe a few days, and then we'll be back to looking for the brat, but he might give us a bonus for finding this one."

"Let's go get her now!"

"No, idiot! In a public place, the cops will be all over us, we wait, there's a storm coming, we get her then."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

Brittany stopped walking, in the parking lot, looking around wildly. That feeling that's been in her gut seemed to reach a boiling point. It felt like people were watching but, there was no one there and this place was busy.

She hitched her purse up and continued walking into the store, shivering. She would tell Lester when she got back to his place. She was scared, they weren't safe and it was taking all her training to not panic and go into hiding.

Gods, she wanted to go into hiding so badly. Whoever was out there, they were close, so very close and she didn't want to meet them.

TBC….

* * *

Alright peeps, let heat things up! Off to the trash heap.


	18. Chapter 18

Calm before the storm my ass, things hit the wall at the end of this chapter.

Warnings: None

Disclaimer in Chapter 1

Unbetaed AF 3333333

* * *

_Christmas Wish_

_Chapter 18_

_Fire Away_

* * *

"Are they allowed to fire that gun in this neighborhood?" Stephanie asked, looking out the window of Lester's house, watching the couple argue and fight about the gun in Lester's hand, "Are they allowed to fire a gun outside period?"

"Don't know," Carlos said from his spot on Lester's couch, with Heidi on his lap, looking at a picture book, "Don't care, we own this area, woods included, I say, it's private property, we can do whatever we want."

"Wait," Stephanie walked away from the window and over to Carlos and Heidi, "We own these woods?"

"Yeah, Tank, Lester, Bobby and I bought this land years ago," Carlos said, with a shrug, as if he didn't confess to being the owner of a few thousand acres of land, "We thought we would put Rangeman out here, make a training ground, the building on Hamilton street does the work and so we just let the land sit and grow in value, a housing company came up to us ask to buy part of our land to build this area up, we sold them the land but then, well you know, our son ,and afterwards, while you were mourning, we bought the land back from the housing company, didn't you think it was a little odd that there were only four houses in this place?"

It was a big area and with only four houses, Stephanie had been curious, "Why did you buy the land back?"

"Because, I remember going to the housing company, before his death, complaining about the kids that raced their cars on the roads in the neighborhood. They did nothing, after we bought the land back, I put up the gates and the security, if people were living here, I wanted to make sure that they didn't have to go through what we did."

Stephanie leaned down and kissed Carlos on the lips, muttering, "Thank you, but that sale must have cost you an arm and a leg."

"It did, but it was worth it," Carlos said as Stephanie curled up against him, "I don't want-" he stopped and looked out the window and covered Heidi's ears just as a gun went off, "Luckily it's just us in the area," he lowered his hands, causing Heidi to look up at him, "Nothing, sweetie, you can go back to reading."

"Have you heard anything about the group that's you know," Stephanie started but Carlos shook his head.

"No, I've contacted people," He said, his eyes dark, "Nothing, they don't-it's like they're not even a real group and it's dangerous, because, I don't think it's Heidi should be worried, Dr. Ivan and Dr. Heidi should be concerned as well. A contact said the groups you don't know about, they're the dangerous ones, who knows what they're doing with Unmentionables, if they have some or if they're trying to get some."

"They don't know where they are, right?" Stephanie asked looking at Carlos, "These people, they have no idea where we are or where Dr. Ivan and Dr. Heidi are."

"I don't know, they could be anywhere," Carlos rubbed a hand over Heidi's back as she looked at the book, "They could be anyone."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"That is not how you hold a gun," Lester said, taking the light pistol from Brittany's hand and shifting her into position, "You fire that gun the way you were holding it, the recoil from the gun would have broken your nose."

"I don't fire guns," Brittany said as she looked up at Lester with a glare, "I think they're dangerous items and should not be used."

"Yeah, well, this dangerous item might one day save your life," Lester said as he let go of her and leaned against the wooden post that rested behind his house, his breath lingering in the air, "You should have told me earlier that there were bad men out there, gunning for Heidi and you."

"They're not after me," Brittany said as she lowered the gun, "They're after Heidi."

"I'm going to call bullshit on this one," Lester said, looking at the woman, walking over to Brittany, "They're after Heidi, Diesel, Dr. Ivan and you and anyone else who's an Unmentionable," he placed a hand on the hand that held the gun, "You told me yourself, Unmentionables can poof in and out, you can't, you're at risk of being trapped and taken, you are, not Heidi, not Diesel, not Ivan."

He helped her shift her feet and said, holding the gun up, "If that happens, you should be able to protect yourself for as long as you can."

"I just hate how this feels," Brittany mutter as Lester helped her aim the gun, "Like it's clunky and heavy but a small killing machine."

"Yeah, well this killing machine saved my ass a few times," Lester said, wrapping his finger around the trigger, "Wait, ear protection first."

He and Brittany slipped on the ear plugs and then Lester got her back into position. They fired the gun once and Brittany jumped back, with a yelp, looking at Lester. Lester laughed, put the safety on, tucked it back into the holster on his belt, "You'll get used to that noise, and if not, I'll get you a muzzle, a muzzle makes your gun quieter but it's only good for a few shots, make them count, is what I say."

His smile faded and he said, "And, since you've a bunch of bad guys after you, you can't be going anywhere alone, I'll get you a tracker, see if I can find someone to-"

"This sounds very intrusive," Brittany said, folding her arms, "Give up my privacy and freedom for safety?"

"I guess, yeah, when you say it like that," Lester said, resting his hands on Brittany's shoulders, "But I want you safe, you said it yourself, people get sucked in by these people, they don't come back, I don't want that for you."

"Can we make compromises?" she asked earning a head shake, "Lester, you're getting all Alpha male on me."

"Can you blame me!?" Lester asked, looking down at Brittany, "I don't want you gone, Brittany!" he began to pace, "Damn it, you act like it's the end of the world if I give you an escort or personal guard! This is serious! There's a little girl in that I think of as my daughter and I want the best life for her and she is getting chased down by some shadow group-"

"Lester-"

"And now, I think-no it's not a 'I think' moment, it's a I know moment, they're going to be after you and take you because the last line of defense most Unmentionables have you don't have!"

"Lester!"

"I can't just let the woman I want to marry someday walk around defenseless so she can get kidnapped-"

"LESTER!" Lester jumped, turning to Brittany, who looked at him with big eyes, "What?"

"You want to marry me?" Brittany asked, her face etched with shock.

"I-yeah, yeah! Fuck yeah I want to marry you!" Lester said rounding on Brittany, with a smile on his face, "You're not like any other woman I know, you're smart, kind, and a super hero!"

"What did I tell you about calling me a super hero?" Brittany asked as Lester grabbed her round the waist and spun her around, "Lester!"

"Everything about you is great," Lester set Brittany down and kissed her thoroughly, "I want you in my life, so will you marry me? I'll get you a ring later."

"I don't need a ring," Brittany said, looking up at Lester, "I'll marry you, of course."

"Can I still get you a ring?" Brittany nodded her head, with a shrug, who was she to stop him from his happiness, "Good, I'll get you the prettiest ring out there, but first, let's go inside and talk about this, okay?"

"Okay," Brittany said grabbing Lester's hand and walking with him to the house, "Nothing big, though, I want a small wedding."

"We can do that," Lester hummed, as he opened the door, "By the way, for safety reasons, you can't leave my bed."

"You Cad!"

"I'm your cad, though."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

Heidi sat at the table with Carlos and Stephanie, eating her dinner, her eyes trained on her plate. She listened to Stephanie and Carlos talk softly to one another, looking over to her and then back to each other. Heidi knew they were talking about her, because she spied them looking at her. She wondered what they were talking about.

"Heidi," Heidi looked up from her meal, kicking her feet in her booster seat, licking pasta sauce off her fork, "We wanted to have a talk with you."

"Kay," Heidi said, grabbing her cup of juice and drinking from it.

"Well," Carlos looked over to Stephanie and then to the child, "You've been with us for a bit, and we happen to enjoy your company, very much."

"But-" Stephanie started, looking at Heidi, we have a question for you."

Heidi leaned back in her seat as Carlos grabbed one of her hands and squeezed it gently, "Heidi-would you like to stay with us, with Stephanie, Lester and I?"

"I thought I here already," Heidi asked, tilting her head, earning a laugh from the two, "What?"

She sucked on her thumb as Carlos pulled her out of her seat and into his lap, turning so that Stephanie could look at her as well.

"We want you to stay with us," Stephanie said, looking at the girl, "For good, you would live here, with us and with Lester, of course."

Heidi blinked her eyes and said, "Kay…I go play now?"

"Yes," Stephanie said, pinching Heidi's knee before the child slides off Carlos's lap and toodles off to play with some of the toys she had, "I don't know what I was expecting from her."

"I think her 'I here already' said more than enough," Carlos said, getting up and cleaning up their dinner mess, "She is home, well, one of her homes."

Stephanie looked over to where Heidi sat, playing with one the dolls she had gotten from her adoring Rangman fans. From what Brittany said and from what Ivan said, Heidi had no real home before this, she lived in a cell, she was tortured, no form of comfort, treated like an object. What she was experiencing now was home to her, so why should they ask her if she wants to stay?

Well it's only common courtesy that they ask her but, she truly was home. She needed more, she deserved more. She had been through so much in her short life.

"Well, if we're her home, we should make it the best home she has" Stephanie said, helping Carlos clean up their dinner mess, "Maybe we should…decorate it for the season."

Carlos looked over to Stephanie, "Are you sure, Babe?"

"You know what, yes, I am 100 percent sure, I mean, did you see the pile of presents Lester has under his tree, we can't be out done by him," she starts but then she looked down and says, "And I'm sure Ricky would want to see this place filled with Christmas magic once again."

Carlos went over to Stephanie and hugged her, saying in a soft voice, "I think he would be happy to see some Christmas magic in here again."

Stephanie kissed Carlos and then turned to Heidi saying, "Heidi, how about we-" she stopped, seeing Heidi standing stark still, looking out the window, her eyes big, her breathing coming out in heavy pants, "Heidi."

"_Help me…._" Heidi whispered, her frame trembling, _"Help me..it's cold, I'm hurt…help me…help me…"_ her eyes roll back in her head and she faints.

"Heidi!" it only takes seconds for Carlos and Stephanie to go over to Heidi, who they turn around, trying to wake her. They were trying for several minutes when the sound of the garage door opening has them looking up to see Lester and Ivan both of them looking grim.

"They took Brittany, ran her car off the road," Lester said, he looked like he was going to faint.

"We don't have a lot of time," Ivan said, looking at the couple, "The blizzard's coming in heavy and once it ends, they'll be out of the area."

"We have to wake Heidi up first and then we'll figure it out," Carlos said, as Ivan came over to them.

"Stand back," Ivan said, placing his hand on Heidi's chest, "I've got this."

Seconds later, Heidi sat up and let out a whimper, looking up at the adults, "Bad place, Dr. Brittany in bad place! Bad people hurt her!"

She sucked on her thumb, crying while the adults looked at each other. What were they going to do now?

TBC…

* * *

Dum dum dum! Now, off to my fav place, the trash heap!


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19, we getting to the end, enjoy!

Warnings: Violence

Disclaimer in chapter 1

Unbetaed AF 33333333

* * *

_Christmas Wish_

_Chapter 19_

_Red Hair_

* * *

_"Brittany, they're going to try to take you…"_

Brittany let out a moan of pain, opening her eyes and looking around, rubbing her sore neck. She could hear loud beeping and looked around in the darkness. She was in her car, why was she in her car again? What happened?

Brittany tried to look at the console on her car but found she couldn't read it properly, it was upside down, gods, no wonder why she felt like she was being smashed, she was upside down in her car. Her car was upside down, gods.

She managed to get her phone out her purse that rested by her head. The screen was cracked but it worked and she made a call, with shaky fingers.

"Brittany, are you okay, you cut off on me," Lester's voice came through, his voice shaky.

"The-they t-boned Manny and Zero," she moaned trying to get her legs to work, "I didn't see where their car went, they could be dead."

"Don't worry about them baby, they're strong men, can you get up?" Brittany groaned, turning her body and pulling it out of the driver window.

Brittany grabbed her purse and pulled out the gun Lester gave her with a shaky hand, "I got my gun," she finally pulled herself out her car and stood, panting, blood coating the side of her face, "My right leg feels weak, I think I sprained my ankle."

"Keep talking to me, what can you see?" Lester asked the woman, who looked around, shivering.

"T-too dark, too much snow, blizzard set in," Brittany said, turning her head, as she heard the squeal of tire wheels, "No, they're coming, Lester, I'm scared."

"Put some distance between you and them," Brittany turned away from the noise and started to limp away, "Go on, if there are woods close by, get to them."

"I-if they take me," Brittany sobbed as she tried to limp faster, "I love you, take care of Heidi and Diesel for me."

"If they take you, I'm moving heaven and hell to get you back, Baby," Lester said, earning a shaky laugh from Brittany, "Keep going, don't look back."

"Over here!" Brittany picked up her pace as she heard voices, "Her car is right here, she's heading west!"

"They're going to take me, it's too cold, I can't see," Brittany was scared, "Lester, there's no woods around here."

"Shit," Brittany held her gun up as Lester said, "You're going to have to use your gun, Brittany."

She could hear them getting closer, she could see lights in the dark, so she aimed her gun there and fired it. She heard cursing and shouts and then someone said, "Fucking stun her!"

"Brittany, if you're not on the ground get-" White hot fire tore through Brittany's gut as she heard the sound of a gunfire go off and she fell into the snow, crying out in pain, "Brittany! Baby, Brittany."

"H-hurts," she gripped her phone tightly, her other hand grabbing her abdomen, feeling something warm and wet trickle out of her abdomen, "L-lester, I've been shot."

Her vision blurred and she let out a cry as rough hands turned her around in the snow and bright lights shined in her eyes.

"I said stun her! Not kill her! Pack the wound with snow, shit, idiots!" Brittany let out a rough scream as snow was pressed against the wound, "Shut up, we're trying to save you!" It hurt so much, fuck, she could feel the snow melting against her wound.

"Brittany, Brittany!" Brittany tried to keep her phone to her but then a hand ripped it out her hand.

"Don't worry about Brittany, we'll take good care of her," the person hung up the phone and turned to the group of men, saying, "Get her to the car, we'll head off to the…"

Brittany didn't understand what they said because she was slowly losing consciousness until finally she blacked out.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"Blizzard's getting worse," A state trooper said to the group, as a wrecked Tesla was pulled from the field, "We managed to find where Dr. Brittany was taken, the dogs found blood buried in snow, but all other evidence, like footprints were wiped away,"

"I was on the phone with her," Lester said, rubbing his face, looking at the trooper, "She was shot, I don't know where, she didn't tell me, she could be dead."

"We found another wreck car," The trooper said, "Two men, both in critical condition, the wreck was a mile up the road, not that hard to put two and two together, who took the doctor made them crash too."

"What hospital did they go to?" Ivan asked, stepping forward.

"They went to the closet one, the one by the shopping center 8 miles back." The Trooper said and Ivan turned and walked over to Carlos, clapping him on the shoulder.

"I'll take care of them," he muttered, walking past the crowd and into the snow to go poof.

Stephanie walked over to Lester and said, in a soft voice, "Don't worry we'll find her,"

"It'll be too late, she could be dead, Stephanie, she got shot, or they could be packing her away to ship her off to some war torn country, what are they going to do with her?!"

"That's the million dollar question," Carlos muttered, as the wind and snow whipped around them.

"Alright folks, the blizzard is picking up," The trooper said, looking at the three, "You need to leave, we need to get the rest of this evidence before it's buried, stay safe out there."

"What do we do, she could be dead," Lester pounded his forehead with a fist, "I let her go out and finish shopping, she had her tracker she had her panic button, Manny and Zero went with her and it still wasn't enough, they shot her, she could be out there, bleeding to death."

"They want her alive," Carlos said, starting the SUV and driving off, "They're going to make damn sure they keep her alive too."

"I just need to know what are they going to do to her…." Lester said, running a hand over his face, "What are they going to do and why were they so hellbent on getting her."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

Brittany let out a whimper of pain, opening her eyes and looking around. She couldn't remember how she got to where she was. There had been a lot of jostling and then she fainted again. The room she was in was tiny, cold and lit by a bare light bulb. She was on the hard, cold ground, without a shirt on and her pants gone.

She turned to sit up but let out a scream of pain and laid back down, sweat prickling her forehead . She placed a hand on the wound and let out a sob, it hurt so badly, it throbbed with each heart beat and was exposed to the cold.

Brittany grit her teeth and tried to sit up again but stopped as the door to the room she was in was opened and a group of people came in, dressed in black. She let out a whimper as they went over to her and forced her back down on the floor, one man holding down her arms and another man putting weight on her legs. What were they doing? A rough piece of cloth was stuffed in her mouth and then another man came over, with medical pilers and said, "It's going to hurt, a lot, we don't want to hear your screams."

Brittany watched as they splashed whiskey on the pilers and then went over to the gunshot wound, her eyes big. She shook her head and then let out a muffled cry as the pilers entered her wound. Fuck! It hurt so much! She could feel the pilers force it way into the wound. She struggled and moved, screaming as the bullet was removed from the wound and then it was packed with whiskey soaked gauze, which had her screaming in pain again, struggling violently until she went still and passed out from the pain.

When she woke up again, she wasn't in the cold room, she was in a bed, naked and clean. Her other wounds had been taken care of and she had a view of the outside, which was a pure whiteout. The blizzard had come in with full force.

"Don't move too much, that gunshot wound was pretty bad, my men though they were thorough with the wound, were crude," a female's voice said, causing Brittany to turn, seeing a woman sitting by the fireplace, sipping a mug of hot chocolate, looking into the fire, "Dr. Brittany, no last name, Clinical child psychiatrist and a Class S Unmentionable. An empath, I believe."

Brittany slowly sat up, pulling the covers up to her shoulder as she looked at the woman by the fire. She was older than Brittany by a decade or so, with long red hair and pale skin, with eyes that were a blazing green. She was dressed in a turtleneck sweater and pants, tucked into fuzzy boots. She looked like she had just enjoyed a day on the ski slopes. Brittany licked her lips and said, in a rough voice, "I take it that you're the ring leader of this group,"

"A very astute observation," The woman said, sitting the mug down, looking over to Brittany, "It's easier for people to believe that man can be so cold hearted to kidnap people and use them for their gain, but a woman? No, women are not capable of such things."

The woman sighed and said, "They don't know how much we're capable of doing things, right?"

Brittany scooted back on the bed as the woman stood and walked over to her. She sat close to Brittany on the bed and said, "Let's have a little girl's talk, sweetie," she patted Brittany's cheek gently, smiling brightly, "Now, you're an S class Unmentionable, pretty powerful, but you're oh so weak. Empaths, double edge swords, all that power but no safety switches, you couldn't even limp out here if you tried!"

The woman laughed as though she told a funny joke, "But, double edge swords also have some hidden perks, yes, I've looked into other Unmentionables that were Empaths and found, they're very useful. Long lives, they stay relatively health, able to withstand mental torture and are very fertile, why I read that an Empath once had 15 children in under 10 years, many twins and triplets and multiple births."

Brittany let out a shocked sound of pain as the woman pulled the covers back and clamped a hand down on her bare abdomen. The woman leaned in and said, in a low voice, "That's what I want, I want your fertility, what you can offer me, I want your offsprings."

"Why?" The woman laughed at Brittany's question and then wrapped an around arm around the wounded woman's shoulder.

"You are so funny!" The woman sighed, leaning against Brittany, "Why? You're children are going to be Unmentionables, That means power, unlike other groups out there, trying to make a buck off you and your kind, we don't want to kidnap grown Unmentionables, we want to create our own. Custom made Unmentionables, sweetie, Unmentionables with more than one gift, we manipulate and create them and then find a suitable host to carry them to full term and then, from birth, we train them. We force them to use their gifts, their many gifts, we turn them into killing machines and sell them off to the highest bidder."

The woman looked over to Brittany's face and saw horror in her eyes, "What, sweetie?"

"Monster," Brittany hissed, glaring at the woman, "You're sick, you're a monster, that could never work!"

"Oh but it has," The woman said sitting up, "We've created the perfect specimen, if I do say so myself," she sighed, "Able to with stand sub zero temperatures, very powerful, can kill on a whim, it pretty much is able to turn into anything it wants to, a hot killing machine, or a cold killing machine, if it wants to kill with its mind, it can."

Brittany was silent for a moment, dread growing in her stomach, "And where is this perfect specimen?"

"Gone, escaped," The woman sighed, tsking, "But don't worry, my little new breeding machine, it will be found," she got up, "Now, you relax, enjoy your stay, once this storm is over, you'll be whisked off to a new place, where your new job can begin. I think we can get 50-60 out of you," Brittany recoiled at that number, "Hopefully they'll all be multiple births, or maybe we can force you to do multiple births…"

The woman hmmed and hawed, going over to a side table and picking up a syringe filled with a sedative, "Okay, nap time."

"You're not going to get away with this," Brittany hissed, wincing as the woman jabbed her in the neck, "They-they're going to stop you," her vision blurred and her voice slurred, "They'rrrrre….."

"Now now, time for bed," The woman said, tucking Brittany back under the seats with a face pat, "Good night, my new little money maker."

The woman looked down at Brittany's prone form and then snapped her fingers, causing two doctors to walk into the room, "Examine her, make sure she's healthy, check that gunshot wound and make sure she's fertile and if she's not, make her fertile, I want her knocked up before the new year," The doctors nodded their heads, carrying their medical supplies over to the bed to begin their work.

The woman walked out the room and down the hallway, going into a sitting room of sorts where a group of people sat. She clasped her hands behind her back and said, "I need for that item to be found soon, not only is there 50 million euros on the line but my pride is on the line, and if you don't know what that means that means, when my pride is wounded, you all get wounded. Find it and bring it back here ASAP!"

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"They're gonna find Dr. Brittany," Diesel told Heidi, rubbing her back as the child leaned against him, sniffling, "See! Look at all this running around! They must on to something!"

Heidi looked around the conference room of Rangeman and nodded her head. It was a mad house, filled with Rangeman, cops and other important people. She could see Auntie Ella passing out coffee and food, and she could see Carlos speaking to people from a place he called the FBI. Stephanie was huddled over something with Dr. Ivan and Lester was sitting away from people, his hand in his face.

"Diesel," Heidi said, pointing to Lester, "Lester's sad."

"Well, let's go cheer him up," Diesel grabbed Heidi's hand and pulled her up from where she sat, "He could use a hug."

Diesel and Heidi walked over to Lester and leaned against him, with Diesel saying, "Lester! Be happy, we'll find Dr. Brittany, don't cry!"

Lester sighed and lowered his hands to look at the two children. He lifted them up on his lap and said, "I know, she's going to be found, but I can't help but be scared," he hugged them both, "She could be hurt, you know, and that can be scary."

Diesel nodded his head and looked over to Heidi, "But, she's going to be found and everyone will be happy again!"

Heidi sucked on her thumb, looking over to Diesel and then to Lester who sighed and set them down. He gave them both a smile and said, "I just-I need to go do something," Lester ruffled both their hair and left the conference room. Diesel sighed and then went back to his toys but Heidi walked over to the doorway, and then silently followed him.

She found him in the stairwell, leaning against the railing, crying. Heidi walked over to him and said, in a soft voice, "Lester?"

"Heidi," he wiped at his eyes and then turned to girl, "Shit, I-uh-" he sat down and she rushed over to him and sat down, "I'm scared, she's hurt, I don't know what's going to happen to her, once this storm is over, if-if she's gone for good, gods!"

Heidi hugged him tightly and said, in a soft voice, "It's okay, Lester."

Lester wrapped his arms around Heidi and cried softly. He didn't know what to do if Brittany was lost for good.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

Dr. Ivan looked down at Dr. Brittany's notes, with a frown, muttering softly to himself. This doesn't make sense, what she wrote about Heidi didn't make sense.

"This doesn't make sense!" Dr. Ivan said looking at the piles upon piles of notes, "She's saying something things that aren't possible."

Stephanie looked over to Dr. Ivan with a frown, "What do you mean? What did she say?"

"She said Heidi has more than one gift," Ivan said, looking at the notes, and then stopping at one word, "Chameleon?" Ivan stopped reading the notes and then dug hard into his mind at the incidents surrounding Heidi, photogenic memory, the ceiling at the place they went to. Brittany wrote down something about Heidi pulling her into a memory and other things as well.

"I don't believe it," Ivan said, looking over to Stephanie, his eyes big, "I think I need to talk to another Empath, give me an hour," he got up and rushed out the conference room.

Stephanie sat there, blinking, confused. What was going on in Ivan's head? She went back to studying notes but then Ivan came rushing back in, an hour later, with a smile on his face.

"We have a way to get her back," He said, looking at Stephanie, "Get Carlos, Lester and Heidi."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"They created a bond," Ivan said, looking at Heidi, "When Brittany would go into her mind and help her, a bond was forming and I think Brittany saw that, among other things."

"Which is why she said what she said, when she fainted," Carlos said, earning a nod from Ivan, "So, we can use this bond to find Brittany."

"Yes we can," Ivan said, looking at Heidi, who continued sucking her thumb, "Heidi, honey, do you think you can find Brittany for us by using your mind?"

Heidi looked at him and said, "Kay," and closed her eyes. She knew what to look for, she had Dr. Brittany in her head many times. She could always see that connection between them, it was a soft pink, she liked that color and it always led to her to Dr. Brittany when she needed her.

She looked at the pink connection and frowned, her eyes narrowed. The connection was weak, and dim. She reached out and touched it, saying in a soft voice, "Dr. Brittany?"

She looked at the connection that went out into the darkness and then followed it. She walked for a long time until she found the end of it. Dr. Brittany sat huddle in a ball in the dark, breathing deeply. Heidi smiled brightly and ran over to the doctor, "Dr. Brittany!" she went over and touched her shoulder.

"Heidi?" Brittany lifted her head up and looked at the child, "Heidi, you need to leave, it's too dangerous for you to be here, go, go! Get out of here, please!"

Heidi hugged her saying, in a soft voice, "Come with me!" she tugged at the woman's arm, "Lester misses you!"

"I can't, I can't!" Brittany said, looking at the girl and then to the darkness, "Get out of here, if they sense you here, it'll lead them right to you."

Brittany stood and pushed the girl away, "Go, don't come back, please!" she turned and walked into the darkness, "I care about you, Heidi, they can't get you again."

Heidi shook her head, "Bad place, bad people!" she cried as she tried to follow Brittany but was stopped, "Dr. Brittany!"

"I'm sorry, Heidi," Heidi let out a yelp as she opened her eyes and looked around, with tears in her eyes.

"It's okay," Carlos said, as Heidi cried, "It's safe, your safe now."

"Did you see Dr. Brittany," Heidi nodded her head, "Did you see where she is?"

Brittany shook her head, sobbing, "Dark, too dark," she frowned, "She said, don't come back, bad people get me."

Brittany crinkled her brow and said, "But I go back, I save Dr. Brittany, please."

"This sounds really dangerous," Stephanie said, looking at the group, "What if Brittany does get compromised?"

"We don't have much of a choice, do we?" Lester asked, looking at the child, "Brittany, are you sure you want to do this?"

"Yes, we save her," Brittany looked determined.

"Good, now, we're going to try again in a few hours." Dr. Ivan said, looking at the group, "Perhaps we'll get something valuable."

TBC...

* * *

Hnngh what's going to happen, yikes! Off to the trash heap!


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20, enjoy. So like I was notified about name switching, and yup, there is, fml, I warned you, this thing is Unbetaed!

Warnings: Violence

Disclaimer in chapter 1

Unbetaed AF 3333333333333

* * *

Christmas Wish

Chapter 20

Weapons of Mass Destruction

* * *

"Did you make this blizzard?" Brittany looked up from her meal and to the woman, who sipped her wine leisurely, with a small smile, "It seems too perfect, too long," she sighed and leaned back, "Oh, who am I kidding, you're an Empath, you can barely control your thoughts."

Brittany picked at her meal and looked out the window, at the storm. The blizzard was strange, she hadn't seen a storm like this, a storm that pretty much never stopped. She wondered if the storm started off naturally and was prolonged by something else.

"Talk to me, Dr. Brittany," The woman said, cutting through her steak, "Figure me out, that's what you do, right? You figure people out, children out, but I bet you can figure adults out too."

Brittany looked at the woman and popped a forkful of meat into her mouth, chewing slowly, "You're trying to compensate for something," she said, after chewing what was in her mouth, "You're always trying to compensate for something, that's a better way to put it."

The woman looked at Brittany, who set her fork down, her arms crossed. Brittany sighed and said, "You're a woman in a man's world, organized crime, it's hard to crack that glass ceiling, so you have to compensate and go into something that is bigger and better. Human trafficking and weapon trafficking make big money, but trafficking Unmentionables, that'll give you the big bucks. But, you went a step above that, you're breeding killing machines. You most likely make several billion dollars a year, have shadow governments in your back pocket and are creating Unmentionables with power that people have never seen."

"But it's not enough," Brittany shook her head, "It's never going to be enough, because you're a failed Unmentionable, right, couldn't get your gifts checked, or they wouldn't listen to you, so you thought, if they weren't work for me, I'll make sure that other people and their gifts work for the highest bidder."

The woman's jaw clenched, as Brittany continued, "I can even guess what your gift is. You have a strong detest of Empaths, that's a good clue, and excellent clue. You're a failed Empath, you've been trying to get into my mind but failing because, even if I can't control my thoughts, you can't even tap into yours the way I can," she smiled softly, "50-60 babies, you want double that, if you can, because you want to control more Empaths because you can't even use your gifts. What are you, a class C, D, or even worse, just a barely there-"

SLAP! Brittany let out a grunt, expecting the slap to the face. She felt blood drip from her nose and then the woman got into her face, snarling, "I said examine me, not piss me off!"

"I did just that," she wiped at her nose with a shaky hand, "But your reaction does tell me that your over compensation isn't enough."

The woman let go of her and said, in a soft voice, "Finish your meal, it's time for you to go back to sleep."

Brittany wiped her bloodied nose, once again and finished her meal, saying, "I'm done, but please, if you want me to pick your brain next time, don't slap me."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"The blizzard that won't go away," the Weather woman said on the TV, looking at a screen, "We're looking at another foot of snow in the next 24 hours, adding to the 3 feet that have already fallen in the last 72 hours! This year is looking to be a white Christmas for sure, I hope Santa has a snow shovel!"

"The snow comes up to our heads, Heidi!" Diesel looked out at the snow, with big eyes, "I wish we could go outside."

Heidi looked out at the snow and nodded her head, "Lots of snow," she looked over to the boy and then to adults, who were talking in hushed voices. She hated that they were like this, so did Diesel but he got distracted easily. Heidi left the window and went over to the adults, listening to them talk.

"72 hours….."

"She might be gone already…."

"Heidi hasn't seen anything?"

"No…"

Heidi shuffled over to the couch and sat on it, looking at the TV. She sank further into it as Dr. Brittany's face came on the TV screen.

"It's been 72 hours since the disappearance of 31 year old Dr. Brittany, who is famous for her work in the middle east. She was last seen on Route 1, if you have any information, please call the FBI, a cash reward for any valuable information is being offered."

"That's scary," Diesel walked over to Heidi and sat beside her on the couch, "I wish Dr. Brittany was found now, so that everyone is happy."

"Yeah," Heidi said, sucking on her thumb, "I miss her."

"I miss her too," Diesel turned to Heidi, his face set, "You can get to her, in your head, right?" At Heidi's nod, Diesel said, "Let's try to go see her now, I'll come with you, so you don't have to go alone, the grownups are busy, maybe we'll see something important, if there's two of us!"

Heidi sighed and then held her hand out for Diesel to take. Diesel let out a squeak as he fell forward and then found himself standing in the darkness with Heidi, "Is this your mind?"

"Hmm? No, I don't know," She shrugged and pointed to a large pink line, "We go this way," she held tight to Diesel and led him down it, "We haf to be careful, Dr. Brittany said I can't see her, we sneak."

"Kay, we'll be like spies." Diesel said, as Heidi led him through the darkness, "I hope we see something important."

They walked for a long time and then found themselves looking into a bright room, with a bed, a large bed, a fire place on one side of the wall with two seats in front of it and a large window that looked out at the blizzard. Diesel looked in wonder at where they were and whispered to Heidi, "Is Dr. Brittany awake and we're seeing what she's seeing?" Heidi nodded her head, "Neat!"

Diesel went silent as a red haired, green eyed woman appeared. Diesel frowned and was about to ask who that lady was but the woman started to speak. Diesel didn't like the way she spoke.

"Good evening, my dear doctor," the woman walked around Dr. Brittany, who lay in bed, still groggy from the drugs that were forced upon her, "I'm sorry if you feel like a zombie, I didn't give you enough drugs to knock you out, I just gave you enough to make it easier for me to slip into that mind of yours, okay? You may think that it's impossible for me , but I do know how to slip into the shallow parts."

"N-no, stay away," Brittany whispered as the red haired woman sat beside her, resting her hands on Brittany's head, "Stay out of my head."

"Like you get a choice, sweetie, I'm over compensating, remember, now, let's see what secrets the Empath is hiding."

"What's happening?" Diesel asked as the sound of ripping filled the area they were in, "Heidi?"

"I don't know," Heidi whispered, holding tight to Diesel.

"Well, what is this?" both children turned and found themselves looking at the woman, who stood before them and Brittany, who was lifting herself up weakly, looking at them with wide eyes, "Dr. Brittany, you've been keeping big secrets from me."

"Get out of here!" Brittany cried to Diesel and Heidi only to be hushed by the woman.

"Dr. Brittany, have you been hiding my weapon," she looked over to Heidi, who felt terror spike in her body, she didn't know this woman but she was scared of her, "For shame."

The woman walked over to the children but then Diesel stood in front of Heidi, saying in a loud voice, "Don't you dare touch her!"

The woman looked at Heidi, with a smile on her face, "Hello, weapon, you were always a sweet baby, I used to rock you all the time, you were so fussy. You survived, out of 10 of them, you were the only one to survive, and you are my most powerful weapon since I've started this project."

Diesel took a step forward and the woman looked at him, "And who is this? Hello, young man you mus-"

"Give Dr. Brittany back!" Diesel snapped, stomping his foot, "You bad woman, you can't get Heidi back either! She lives with us now!"

"Heidi?" The woman looked at the girl, who was sucking her thumb, looking far away, "They gave you a name? Isn't that sweet, young man but it's just a weapon, nothing, it's buyer wants them, he paid good money for it, it has to leave you, but, I'm sure, I can get some extra money if I sell you with it too-"

"Don't touch either of them," Brittany said weakly, her eyes fluttering, rolling in her head.

"Dr. Brittany?!" Diesel asked, still protecting Heidi from the woman.

"Unmentionable…" Brittany slurred, resting her head on the ground, "Tell Deda, she's an Unmentionable, tell…Deda…."

Diesel nodded his head and then grabbed Heidi's hand, saying "Come on, Heidi, we have to go."

"Do you think I'm going to-" The woman started but Brittany struggled to get the final words out.

"Can-can't do anything, weak, run!" Brittany watched as the two children ran off into the darkness.

The woman sighed and then pulled herself out of Brittany's head, watching the woman's eyes roll up and she passed out, "You've been hiding secrets from me, Good Doctor, that won't do. When you wake up, the fun begins."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"…Diesel….Diesel…"

"Crazy boy!..."

"Heidi….Diesel!"

Diesel let out a gasp and sat up, his eyes wide. He was surrounded by the adults, who then checked him over, asking if he was alright. He looked over to Heidi, who sat close to him, looking at him. She nodded her head and Diesel nodded his head.

"Deda, a woman took Brittany!" He started quickly, "She took Brittany and-and-Brittany said she's an unmentionable too, we gotta save her, that woman is bad news, she's going to hurt Brittany!"

"An Unmentionable," Diesel nodded his head as Ivan voiced his surprise, "This changes a lot, but I think this will help," he pulled his phone out, "I'll make some calls, Diesel tell me what this woman looked like."

Diesel jumped off the couch and ran over to his father, talking quickly. Heidi looked up at the group and said, in a soft voice, "Bad woman she's scary," she clung to Stephanie, "Hurt Brittany."

"We're going to get her back," Carlos ruffled her hair, looking at both Lester and Heidi, "She's going to be alright."

"I hope she is," Lester said, getting up, "I'm going to make some calls too, maybe my contacts know about a rouge Unmentionable."

Carlos left the two on the couch and went over to Ivan, who was looking up a number, "How often do Unmentionables go rouge?"

"Not often, we don't need to," Ivan said, looking at the man, "But often, low level Unmentionables, try to get on power trips, make groups with what little power they have to get both money and power. They're usually dealt with early on, if this is a low level Unmentionable she's been under the radar for a long time, which means her business is everywhere and is touching everything. Diesel did she say anything else that could help us?"

"….She called Heidi a weapon and kept calling her it, not Heidi," Diesel looked at Carlos and Ivan, "Heidi isn't an it! She's a girl, even if she wants to marry Marcus."

"That she is," Ivan said, rubbing his chin, "That helps as well, an Unmentionable selling Unmentionable children is a niche, we might find her yet."

"Let's get to work then," Carlos said, pulling out his phone, "We should-"

"Ack! It's dark!" Diesel yelped as the power went out, just as there was a loud pop in the distance. Carlos turned the flashlight on his camera saying, "Sounds like a transformer blew, I'll call Rangeman and see if they got power, this blizzard needs to stop."

"I'm thinking this blizzard is not natural," Ivan said, looking out in the dark at the storm, "This storm has been stationary, and hasn't lost strength? I think an Unmentionable is behind this, find me some power, and I'll call our government."

"Tank called," Lester came over to the men, "Rangeman has emergency power, but this storm is getting worse."

"More worse than it is?" Stephanie asked, carrying Heidi over to them, "What is this, an Ice Age?"

"Call Tank," Ivan said, "And tell him to call this number," he held his phone out and handed it to Lester, "I'm going to check on my family, Diesel stay right here, don't do anything stupid."

"I won't," Diesel shook his head as his father left with a poof, "There's a bad guy making this Blizzard, is it the bad woman?"

"I don't know, Carlos said, crouching down in front of Diesel, "But, Diesel, if anything happened to us, watch over Heidi, okay?"

"I got it, I'll poof her outta trouble!" Diesel smiled, looking over to Heidi, "I'll be a good watcher!"

"Now bundle up, the cold is going to creep in here soon." Carlos said, making Diesel run and get his coat, "Stephanie, Babe, you okay?"

"Yeah, but, something doesn't feel right," she said, wrapping Heidi up in her winter coat, "I don't know, but it feels like something's wrong."

Ivan reappeared with a sigh, "Marcus is watching over the others, he knows what to do," he looked over to Diesel, "They said hi."

"Hi," Diesel said, looking at his father, "Deda, do you think the woman is making this storm?"

"No, I don't think so, I know so," Ivan said looking at the group, "We have a problems, there's an Unmentionable named Vladimir, S class Unmentionable, he's the one controlling this weather. Found out, the government has a warrant out for him, he's been making recent transactions that people unearthed, weapons…human weapons. They captured one of his goons, sang like a canary, the seller of a recent weapon was in this area, looking for a lost weapon, so he set the storm up to stop them, because Vladimir is fed up and is on the hunt for his weapon himself."

"And their weapon is…." Stephanie looked over to Heidi, who stared at them, sucking her thumb.

"It's her," Lester said, in a soft voice, "She's the weapon."

TBC

* * *

Things are clicking in place! Off to the Trash heap!


	21. Chapter 21

Fuck me, this is a long ass chapter! For good reason only since it's the second before the last chapter! Woot woot! Enjoy.

Warnings: violence, lots of it, lots of violence.

Disclaimer in chapter 1

You already know, it's Unbeta 33333333

* * *

_Christmas Wish_

_Chapter 21_

_More than One_

* * *

"So now we have two people to look out for?" Lester asked, running a hand through his hair, "We have to worry about another powerful Unmentionable and this mystery woman!"

"Yes that is what I'm saying," Ivan said, the snow and wind outside howling, "And a blizzard, if our people can find Vladimir, they can stop the blizzard. They're working on it right now."

"But if they catch him, they'll stop the blizzard," Carlos crossed his arms with a rare sigh, "And this woman could slip away, with Brittany."

"Maybe not," Lester looked out the window, "Five feet of snow is on the ground, they'll have to dig through that, face subzero temperatures and an angry Unmentionable, I think they're going to lay low, until Vladimir is found or he finds them."

"We should follow the storm," Stephanie said, suddenly, looking at the screen that held a radar of the storm, "Call me crazy but…wouldn't this person be in the center of the storm?"

The men walked over to the Stephanie and the screen to look at the storm. Lester sat down and clicked a few buttons to rewind the time track of the storm. It moved like a regular storm, at first but then, a day out, it began to moved oddly, like it had no intended path and then it stopped moving.

"When was this?" Lester muttered, looking at the screen, "This is only a few hours old."

"He's there," Ivan said poking at the storm, in the middle of it, "Where is that?"

"That's-" Carlos leaned forward to look at the map, "There's a castle there, abandoned, whatever is in this castle, has his interest."

"It must be Brittany, he must have found the person who has her!" Stephanie said, looking at the men, "We have to get there!"

"We?" Carlos looked over to his wife, "It's too dangerous out there for you, for anyone, actually."

"You can't expect me to stay here, Carlos, not when Brittany-"

"I don't expect you to do anything but, Babe, this isn't a normal bad guy, this is-"

"All we have to do is to get Dr. Ivan to-"

"Heidi's gone."

All heads turned to Diesel, who stood by the entrance to the office, looking pale. Ivan walked over to the boy and asked, "Thaddeus, what do you mean she's gone."

"She was, standing here, looking at the screen, breathing heavy, sucking her thumb," Diesel looked at his father, with tears in his eyes, "She was-was breathing so heavy that I thought she would faint but then she disappeared and, I don't know where she went! She disappeared right in front of me too!"

"She went to the castle," Ivan said softly, turning to look at the group, "She's-we have to go get her."

"Your damn right we have to get her!" Lester said, standing, grabbing his coat, "She went right to the people that are looking for her and she doesn't have a coat, she's just a little girl!"

"We can't do this alone, I'll call our team," Ivan said, getting his phone out, "This is too dangerous for regular humans."

"Call your team, hopefully they can get here soon," Carlos said, before turning to Stephanie, "Babe, I can't lose you, please, stay here, with Diesel."

Stephanie sighed and said, "Alright, Diesel and I will stay here, hurry up and get Heidi back."

"We will," Carlos said, softly, kissing the woman deeply, "I love you, Babe."

"I love you too, Carlos," Stephanie said, as Carlos, Lester and Ivan left the office, "It's okay, Diesel, they'll get her back, she'll be home soon."

"Well, if they can't get, I'll get her," Diesel looked determined, "I can get to the castle too! If they can't get to the castle, I'll get there myself."

"Hopefully that won't be the case…."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

Brittany let out a series of wet coughs, leaning against the stone wall, wrapping her arms around her knees, her breath hung in the air and the thin blanket she had been given did little to keep her warm. After that mind episode, the woman holding her hostage had been enraged. Several days of torture and mind digging left Brittany's mind raw and her head in constant pain. It didn't help that the temperature was lowering and it was getting colder and the storm was now threatening to bury the place they were in.

In her weak state, Brittany felt herself getting sick, too ill to fight off the woman's mental attacks. She shivered and curled up tighter against herself, laying on the stone floor. She had been removed from the bedroom she woke up and found herself in tiny room in a basement. The combined cold, awful food and torture wrecked her body. She could feel the fever in her body and all she wanted to do was fall asleep and sleep for a long time.

"Oh, doctor, good doctor," The woman walked into the tiny room, looking over to Brittany who continued to cough, "You don't sound good, that cough sound very wet, fluid buildup in the lungs?"

She walked over to Brittany and placed a hand on her forehead, "You're burning up, hmm, that's not good, but, after I deal with a few things, I'll take care of you, sweetie."

Brittany, too weak to speak, only laid on the floor, looking at the woman, with glassy eyes. The woman sighed and then said, "An angry buyer, making his way to me, apparently he's on the hunt for his weapon, and I have a person knows where it is."

"A..person…who-" Brittany whispered, who stopped talking when the woman covered her mouth with a hand, "Shh, sweetie, no more talking, you're too weak."

The woman sighed and said, rubbing her arms, "It is cold in here, perhaps-" she turned when a group of men came into the room, "What?"

"We have a problem, they're here," One man said, causing the woman to huff, "Not Vladimir, ma'am, the weapon."

"What in the hell are you doing in here talking to me then?! Go get it!" The woman snapped, while the men faltered and looked nervous.

"There's a problem…" Brittany slowly sat up to listen to the men, her eyes widening as she listened to the men.

"Damn, stun it!" The woman snapped, "Go get the guns and stun it, but don't kill it! I have to deal with this wounded bitch, I'm not dealing with a wounded weapon!"

The woman sighed as the men rushed off. She turned to Brittany and said, "You hear that, 20 men, dead by that little arsenal, I made a powerful weapon."

"Mad, you're mad…" Brittany whimpered, as the woman laughed and walked out the tiny room, leaving the door opened.

"I'll let some warm air in, don't want you dying on me now." The woman looked at Brittany who didn't move, "Don't pass out on me."

Brittany watched the woman leave and then slowly sat up. She had to get to Heidi. She let out a groan and stood up on weak legs and began to limp out the cell. It was colder in the halls than the cell. She wrapped her blanket around herself, face determined before limping down the hall.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

The men keeping watch had been surprised when they spotted a little girl, walking through the raging snow storm, walking on top of the piled snow with ease, as though she weighed nothing. dressed in only a pair of pants, socks and a long sleeve shirt. She was holding tight to a stuffed snake, sucking her thumb. It had set them all on edge, as she walked closer to them, with big amber eyes that were getting bigger the closer she got to them.

What was a kid doing in this area anyways, and why didn't she look like she was cold , it was well below freezing, and the ice and snow that blew in the air made it worse. One of the men left his position and made his way over to the girl, who stopped a short distance from the front yard of the castle they were stationed in.

He dug a path through the snow and once he was close to the girl shouted, "What in the hell are-" was all he managed before something lifted him in the air and sent him flying in the air, soaring over to the woods, where he landed with soft 'thump' in the snow, dead. The girl calmly walked by the path and up to the castle, where the men were scrambling to get guns and other weapons. This girl wasn't just any girl, this was the weapon they were looking for! By the time they managed to get their guns, the men were flying in the with a jerk of the girl's head, blooding raining down on the pristine snow as limbs were torn off by who knows what. Screams of pain filled the air but the girl ignored it, going to the castle entrance and entering it.

'Kill them all, kill them all!' that voice in her head screamed and raged as she walked down the hallway of the castle, 'they're nothing, they're all nothing!'

She couldn't see anything but she could hear them, the men shouting something and the loud noises from their weapons. She hated big noises! She jerked her head and the walls caved in on the men, the ceiling came down as well and with the weight of the snow crushed the men easily.

"Perfect, you are just perfect!" The girl slowly lifted her head and looked up at the woman standing before her, a feral smile on her face and her hair whipping in the wind, "I knew it, the perfect weapon, when you snap, you snap!"

The girl didn't flinch when the woman walked over the pile that had buried the men and their big noises and crouched down in front of her. She patted the girl's cheeks and cooed, "I was afraid that your transformation was going to be a bust, living with normal people, thinking that you weren't a weapon, that you could be human. Well you fooled me wrong, didn't you, killed all my men, bought down my ceiling. Vladimir is going to be happy about this."

The woman looked at the stuffed snake in the girl's hand and ripped it from her saying, "You won't need that, come on, I can sense Vladimir, he's close."

The woman grabbed the girl's hand and dragged her out into the cold. The woman so lost in her own world that she didn't see the person shuffling in the hallway, nor did she see them pick up the stuffed snake.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"What in the hell?!" Stephanie lifted her head up at that exclamation and the sound loud thuds, "Did you put up the barrier already, I was told to wait!"

"I didn't put up the barrier!" Stephanie walked out the room to see a group of people getting up from the floor, along with Ivan Carlos and Lester. Stephanie stepped out the office and asked, "I thought you guys were going to get Heidi!"

"Were, missy," A man, with a southern accent said, sitting up and rubbing his head, "Barrier's up, no one is going in or out of it. Must be Vladimir doin'."

"How did he get his hands on that kind of technology?" Another person hissed, while another pulled out a phone, "That's top secret shit!"

"Stolen, apparently, a year ago."

"Really?!"

"Then we go there by vehicle," Carlos said, looking at the bickering people, "We're running out of time."

"Sorry, Stephanie, these are some agents from our group," Ivan said, running his hands through his hair, frustrated. "Vladimir stole some classified equipment, we're pretty much stuck going the normal way."

"But, in this weather it could take you hours to get there, we don't have hours!"

"We don't have a choice," Lester looked at the group, "We have a snow plow, we'll make a path for the cars."

"Well let's go and try this plan." One person said.

"Stephanie!" Stephanie turned and saw Diesel by the entrance to the door, waving for her to come over, "C'mere!"

"Diesel, what's-" She let out a grunt as Diesel dragged her coat over and gave it to her, "What are you doing?"

"We're gonna go save Heidi and Dr. Brittany," Diesel said his small face set, "We have to hurry!"

"You were snooping," Stephanie said, as Diesel pulled his coat on, "You heard them, no one is getting past this barrier."

"Deda told me bout these things," Diesel said, stuffing his hat on his head, "He said that these barriers can have cracks and holes, not big enough for grown ups, but big enough for me, and you're not an Unmentio-Unmon-you're not one of us, so maybe you can pass through with me!"

"Diesel, this is dangerous," Stephanie whispered, but if the men were going to take hours to get to Heidi and Brittany, "Shoot, fine, let's go, I can't lose another child."

Diesel grabbed Stephanie's hand and said, "Kay, now, big boy onward!"

Traveling instantly made a person not used to it dizzy. Stephanie let out a gasp as a blast of cold air and snow made the dizziness worse. She fell to her knees and looked around. They were no longer in Rangeman but in the woods, close to a castle and shit, it was freezing out here.

"Stephanie! There, the castle!" Diesel pulled at Stephanie's arm, "Come on, it's there! Come on!"

"Hold on," Stephanie hissed, standing in the snow and looking, she could see the castle, it didn't so abandoned now, "Alright, let's go."

They trudged through the deep snow, Stephanie clearing a path for Diesel as they did. They had made it only several feet from the castle when Stephanie suddenly grabbed Diesel and covered his eyes, carrying him, "Don't ask questions, just-just don't."

She carried him past a bloody scene, limbs were scattered everywhere, blood frozen in the snow. Who could do such a thing? Stephanie thought as she stumbled into the castle. Who could kill like this? She closed the castle door and said, "Okay, time to look for Heidi, let's go find her!"

"There she is," Diesel said, pointing to a big window that looked into a courtyard, where Heidi stood beside a red haired woman, looking across to a man that stood in the middle of it, "Who's that man?"

Stephanie muttered a curse. The man was tall, with silver eyes and pure white hair, dressed in a grey suit. It was like the cold didn't affect him and he seemed angry, if his tight lips and narrow eyes were to go by, "Come on, Diesel, let's go!"

They raced through the castle, looking for a way in. They didn't find a door, but luckily they found a caved in wall that led out into the courtyard. They climbed over the fallen wall and then made their way into the courtyard.

"Heidi!" Stephanie shouted, "Heidi, we're here!"

"Yeah, we're here to save you!" Diesel shouted, as the woman and man turned to look at them, "Heidi?!"

"Heidi, they named it?" The man asked, raising an eyebrow, "How cute…"

"She's not going to answer to you two," The woman said, looking over to Stephanie and Diesel, with a bright smile, "Do you see how she looks? She's complete, she's a true weapon now."

The woman turned Heidi around and Stephanie felt her heart break at the sight of Heidi. She looked so different. Her eyes were dead, empty, and her face slack. She was sucking on her thumb, looking at nothing. The woman sighed and said, "Perfect, isn't she? She's finally, what I say, snapped. Something snapped in her, she's not Heidi now, she's just a weapon now.

Vladimir walked over to the woman and Heidi and grabbed the child's shoulder, saying, in a soft voice, "Yes, I was told that were safety mechanics in this girl's mind, to prevent her from rebelling. Tied to me," the man said, looking over to the woman, "Sadly, for you, madam, your time is up, get rid of her."

The woman turned to Vladimir just as Heidi jerked her head and Stephanie barely had time to cover Diesel's eyes as the woman's head spun around and snapped with a loud crack. Stephanie let out a cry and she stepped back. She looked at the man, who looked back at her, cocking his head, his hand tightening on Heidi's shoulder.

"I see you were the ones to take care of my weapon, it looks healthy and clean, I shall thank you by leaving you both alive," Vladimir said, tipping his head, "I shall be taking my leave with my-"

"You're not leaving with that child!" A weak, but loud voice said, causing everyone to look at the source of the voice. Brittany stood in the hole in the wall, wrapped in a thin blanket, "Let go of Heidi!"

"Brittany," Stephanie covered her mouth with her, "Gods," the woman looked as though she had gone through the grinder. She was shivering, covered in wounds and bruises and naked. She stumbled into the courtyard, her eyes glassy but determined.

"Ah, you're the other Unmentionable the woman spoke of, I thought she was lying, but she spoke the truth," the man walked over to Brittany, who swayed and shivered violently, "She kept you in poor condition, but with care, you could be of use to me."

"You're not taking Heidi or Dr. Brittany!" Diesel snapped, his eyes stilled covered by Stephanie, "Let them both go!"

Diesel squirmed out of Stephanie grip and ran at Vladimir. Vladimir laughed and opened his hands to let Diesel hit. The man had been expecting a lit hit. He was surprised when the boy hit him and sent him flying into the snow.

"A strong boy you are," The man laughed, sitting up in the snow and turning to Diesel who stood there, his little face set, "But I have no need for you, I would let the weapon off you, but I want to do this myself."

Diesel let out a yelp as the man grabbed him by the neck, lifting him up in the air and slowly squeezing. Stephanie let out a cry and ran over to the man, shouting, "Let him go!" hitting on his arm, tugging at it to stop the man from choking Diesel to death.

"Heidi," Brittany stumbled over to the quiet girl, who was watching the scene with glazed eyes, "Heidi, you have to stop him, I know you can do it, I know you can fight his control."

She turned the girl away from the scene and whimpered, shaking her gently, "It's okay, you can fight him, you're so strong, Heidi, I believe in you, let me help you."

Brittany rested her feverish forehead on Heidi's and with what little energy she had she jumped into the girl's mind. She found Heidi huddled in a corner of her mind, covering her ears from the yelling that was occurring, crying and screaming for them to stop. Brittany winced and walked over to the girl, "Heidi, it's okay, I'm right here," She fell down and grabbed the girl, pulling her into her embrace, ""It's okay, don't listen to the voice, listen to my voice."

Brittany rocked the crying child, saying, "You can fight it, Heidi, Diesel misses you, Ivan does, Stephanie and Carlos love and miss you, Lester needs you, he gave you Mister Hiss, remember, Mr. Hiss."

Heidi slowly stopped crying and looked up, "Dr. Brittany?"

"Ignore the voices, Heidi," Brittany said, looking down at the girl, "Wake up, please…wake up," Heidi let out a grunt as she fell out of Brittany's lap. She looked up at Brittany who fell forward.

"Dr. Brittany!" Heidi shooked him, her eyes wide, "Dr. Brittany!"

Brittany let out a weak moan, whispering, "It's okay, I'll be right….here….." going still.

Heidi's eyes began to blink quickly and then she let out a gasp, looking around. She was in a strange place, where was she? She looked over and gasped, seeing Diesel being held by a man, his face was purple and he looked like he was in pain. Her friend was in pain.

Heidi narrowed her eyes and with a jerk of her head the man's arm holding Diesel snapped, causing him to cry out in pain and drop Diesel. Stephanie grabbed the boy and slapped his face gently. The boy coughed and cried, burying his face in Stephanie's chest, while Heidi walked over to the man, her eyes narrowed.

"Bad!" She shouted, and with another jerk of her head the man was being tossed around hitting the walls, tree anything, "Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad!"

"Heidi!" Heidi kept jerking her head to and fro, "Heidi!" the man's body kept hitting hard stone, "Heidi," she could hear bones snapping, "HEIDI!"

Heidi blinked and turned, seeing Stephanie standing by her, holding Diesel in her arms, "Heidi, it's okay, you can stop, the bad man can't hurt anyone, anymore."

"Dr. Brittany," Heidi whispered, as Stephanie walked over to Brittany's prone form, "Dr. Brittany…"

Stephanie crouched down and pressed her fingers to Brittany's neck, "A-alive," Stephanie let out a sighed, looking over to Heidi, who ran over to them, "She's alive, Heidi!"

Heidi hugged Stephanie and then whispered, "Happy you're here," she gave Stephanie an Eskimo kiss.

Stephanie let out a sob, "I'm happy to be here too," she looked over to Heidi, "Come on, let's-let's get Brittany inside."

Together, after getting Diesel calm, the three managed to get Brittany inside. Stephanie started a fire in the room they were in and went hunting for blankets. She had wrapped up the children and Brittany with blanket when she heard a loud commotion from outside the room. Stephanie told the kids to hide and then got up, grabbing a fire poker and going to the door, watching as the door handle rattled almost violently.

The door opened and the strange Unmentionables came tumbling in, shouting but they stopped quickly when they saw Stephanie standing there. Stephanie lowered the poker and said, giving them a finger wave, "Hey, you guys are a few minutes late."

"Yeah, I guess we are, who turned Vladimir into mince meat?"

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"Pneumonia, severe internal injuries by trauma, early onset hyperthermia," Dr. Ivan ticked off, holding Diesel to his chest as he rocked the boy, "Dr. Brittany is lucky to be alive right now, she was a few inches from death's door."

"Yes," Carlos said, looking over to Stephanie, who leaned against him, "Babe, you and Diesel made us all grow grey hairs, I couldn't believe you and Diesel ran off like that!"

"I'm glad we did, Heidi and Brittany were this close to being taken!" Stephanie said, glaring at Carlos, "Those people were psychotic."

They were in the waiting room of the ICU, camped there honestly, after the Unmentionables came in, they whisked Brittany away quickly and then got Stephanie and Diesel back, promising to deal with the bodies of the woman and Vladimir. IT was a relief to leave but they weren't finish with their tasks.

They took Heidi with them as well. That had been three days ago.

Stephanie sighed and looked over to Carlos, who rested his head against hers. They were hopeful that soon, very soon Heidi would be back with them. The Unmentionables spoke about running tests, evaluating her and several other things to make sure she was wasn't a danger to society.

"Guys!" Lester rushed into the waiting room, with a smile on his face, "She woke up, she's alert, and complaining about the needle in her arm, her fever is still high and they want to keep her in ICU longer but, she's on the road to recovery."

"Thank goodness," Ivan sighed, smiling at Lester, "Thanks for the good news, Lester."

"Any word on Heidi yet?" Lester walked over to the group and sat down, "It's been three days, she should be here with us."

"I was hoping to hear from them earlier, but…" Ivan sighed, "They'll bring her to us if they think she's safe and if she isn't safe…she, she'll be fine."

Ivan looked out the window and got up suddenly, "I'm going to take this one home, it's Christmas Eve, and he's going to be mad if he misses the presents in the morning, I'll be back tomorrow, Merry Christmas," he smiled at them and then left with a poof.

Lester leaned back and sighed, "I want our kid back," he rested his head in his hands, "I can't believe how…empty things are without Heidi."

"Yeah," Carlos agreed, "I thought, after Ricky, I couldn't feel this way again," he wrapped his arm around Stephanie, "But, that little girl she-she makes me feel better again."

"I want her back, when she comes back, I'm never letting her go again, she's going to have to deal with a clingy Stephanie," Stephanie said, looking at the clock, "Oh-look, it's midnight, Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, Babe."

"Merry Christmas, Steph."

"Mewwy Christmas!" All heads turned to see an Unmentionable standing in the doorway of the ICU, holding the hand of Heidi, who was smiling and holding tight to Mr. Hiss, dressed in a holiday themed dress, "I back!"

The Unmentionable yelped and jumped out the way as Heidi was enveloped by the Stephanie, Carlos and Lester, "We've questioned and investigated Unmentionable Heidi and deemed her safe for living in society. In fact, we think that Dr. Ivan and Brittany, Unmentionable themselves, will be a good guardian for them, unlike regular custody, we encourage village rearing. If you all are interested in the guardianship of Unmentionable Heidi please, have the doctors contact us, we'll be more than happy to make it happen."

The Unmentionable smiled and then left the group. Carlos looked over to Stephanie and then turned to Heidi, who was giving Lester Eskimo kisses, "Well, Bella, what do think about having more than one parent?"

"I think there are several people who want to be your parents," Stephanie said, watching as Lester as he nodded his head, "So, Heidi, do you want a bunch of parents?"

"Yes," Heidi smiled shyly, burying her face in Lester's neck, "I want lots of parents."

"Good, I think that would be a great Christmas present for us all," Lester said, kissing Heidi's forehead.

TBC…..

* * *

Off to the trash heap! See you guys on the other side.


	22. Chapter 22

NYEH! Look at this! two chapters in one update? Why? because! We're at the end, I hoped you enjoyed it, now I'll slowly move to some of the other past writings, brainstorm, outline, you know, the works. Anyways, here's the ending.

Warnings: None

Disclaimer in chapter 1

UNBETA AF! 33333333333

Enjoy dudes!

* * *

_Christmas Wish_

_Chapter 22_

_Dear Santa_

* * *

Stephanie let out a sigh and cuddled close to Carlos, enjoying the silence in their room. She felt Carlos shift in the bed by her and then lips kissed her neck.

"Merry Christmas, Babe," Carlos said, his voice rough with sleep, "Mmm, the sun is up and no loud noises, I should be concerned."

"No, that means the-" Stephanie started but then stopped as their bedroom door was slammed opened and Diesel stood at the doorway, shouting, "IT'S CHRISTMAS! CARLOS! STEPHANIE PRESENT TIME!"

"We spoke too late," Stephanie sighed as she turned and saw Diesel standing in the doorway, dressed in Pjs.

Diesel ran over to the bed and jumped on it, turned and said, "Come on, Heidi! Jeez!" Stephanie and Carlos laughed as Heidi peeped her head in, holding Mr. Hiss to her chest, dressed in a flannel nightgown. She quickly scurried over to the bed and jump on it, going over to two adults and cuddling in between them.

"Why don't you go and bother your other parents?" Carlos groaned but then sat up and let the kids hold onto him, "Its not fair that you two hell raisers don't go mess with Lester and Brittany."

"Oh, they've been up all night, Momma Brittany is in pain," Heidi said, earning a look from the adults, "Papa said I shouldn't tell you guys, cause it's nothing important."

"Not important my butt!" Stephanie yelped, climbing out of bed and grabbing her robe, "I think it's time."

Carlos climbed out of bed and shook his head, watching the kids run after Stephanie. They weren't at home this year, they took a trip to the mountains, renting a huge cabin, big enough to fit several families and their hell raisers. He could hardly believe that a year ago, they had gotten shared-ish custody of Heidi with Lester and then Brittany, when she got out the hospital and married Lester, who said he found a good woman, nearly lost her and wasn't going to let that happen again. Now, they were all together, living in the same area as a large family. Of course Dr. Ivan and his family popped up quite often and yes, Heidi still wanted to marry Marcus, much to Diesel's horror.

Carlos slipped a shirt on and then made his way to the source of the noise. Everyone was downstairs, by the huge fireplace, surrounding a chair that held Dr. Brittany Santos, who was breathing deeply, rubbing a hand over her pregnant stomach.

"I don't think these are false contractions," Brittany said as Stephanie asked her how she felt, "They've been constant, and getting painful, Lester, why did we go on a vacation so close to term?"

"Because the doctor said we had a month left!" Lester was freaking out, looking at Brittany who groaned and leaned forward as another contraction hit, "I'm sorry you're in pain!"

"I-I'm okay, good pain, right?" Brittany said as Stephanie came over to the woman with a cup of ice, "You're a blessing, Stephanie."

"You kids go open your presents," Carlos said, ruffling Heidi and Diesel's hair, "I'm sure Ivan have been watching over Brittany."

"I have," Ivan walked out the kitchen with a cup of coffee, while his wife bought a tray of drinks for everyone else, "How are you feeling, Brittany."

"In pain," the woman said, leaning back in the chair, running a hand over her belly, "We shouldn't have risked a vacation so late in the pregnancy."

"Even worse, you're carrying twins," Diesel said, looking at Brittany's stomach, "Two babies, you're gonna have two younger siblings, Heidi, whatcha gonna do?"

"I don't know," Heidi shrugged, sucking her thumb, "Nothing."

"You gotta train them to take the rap for all the bad things ya do," Diesel said, looking over to the girl, "Then you can get away with everything."

"I don't wanna do that," Heidi said, taking her thumb out her mouth, "I'm a good girl, that's why I can't marry you, Diesel, you're a bad boy."

The adults laughed at the children's antics and Brittany got up, her back sore. She let out a moan and then paused feeling something strange, like liquid gushing out of her. She looked down at her feet and said, "Huh, Ivan, my water just broke."

"Saw that one coming," Stephanie said to Carlos as Lester fainted on the spot, "That usually happens during the birth, remember Carlos, you fainted-"

"I do not," Carlos said, ignoring Stephanie's giggles.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

They didn't manage to get back to their hospital so they had to make due in the local hospital near the cabin. Brittany gave birth so fast, that by the time they had driven her to the hospital, twin number one was being born in the passenger seat of the car. Twin number 2 was born nearly 4 minutes later, in the lobby of the hospital. A healthy boy and girl.

Heidi walked into the hospital room, holding Stephanie and Carlos' hand. Lester looked from the pink bundle in his arms and smiled at Heidi, "Hey, Princess, come meet your new siblings."

Heidi rushed over to where Lester sat and Brittany lay and looked down at her new sister. She wrinkled her nose a little and said, "She's vewy wed and foldy."

"All babies look like this, when they're born," Brittany said, showing Heidi her new brother, "Even you."

"No way!" Heidi said giving Brittany an Eskimo kiss, "I'm gonna be the best big sister, okay?"

"Okay," Brittany said as she let Heidi give her new brother an Eskimo kiss, "You'll have to help us name them too, okay?"

"Right!" Heidi said, slipping off the bed and running over to Stephanie and Carlos, "Papi, Mommy, we have to think of names!"

"Right," Carlos said as Stephanie went in to go hold one of the babies.

Lester stood up and made room for both Carlos and Stephanie, grabbing his jacket. He paused as he heard something drop to the ground and picked up an old envelope. Strange…He opened the envelope and pulled out a folded letter, which he opened and looked at. What he read made his heart melt. It was letter from a child to Santa, asking for somebody to love them. The letters looked very familiar and he looked over to Heidi, who was busy petting her sister's head, talking to Carlos as he held her. She had a lovely smile on her face and for the first time, the girl looked at peace, content.

"Alright, old man," Lester said, folding the letter up and putting it in his shirt pocket, "I got the message, she's got an army to love her to bits, and that's not going to change.

Fin.

* * *

Baby, it's done, over, finis! Why you guys still here? See ya! Off to the trash heap!


	23. Chapter 23

_Is this the entrance to a sequel?! Maybe, idk... l:3_

_Anyways, enjoy_

_Warnings: None_

_Disclaimer in chapter 1_

_Enjoy!_

* * *

_Christmas Wish_

_Chapter 23_

_A Letter To Santa_

* * *

_Dear Santa,_

_It's been five years since I got a new family and I wanted to thank you and tell you how we're doing. We're doing great, actually (I learned that in school!) I have two mommies and two daddies, remember! I only asked you for one mommy and daddy or for someone to love me but you gave me two! You're a really nice person, Santa. Thank you._

_Oh, back to what I was going to say. We're doing great as a family! I have two bedrooms and everything. I live with Mommy Brittany and Daddy Lester and Papi Carlos and Mommy Stephanie as well. If I want to have a night away from the crying and nosy kids, I go over to Papi and Mommy Stephanie's house or if I want a night away from the loud baby cries, I go back to Mommy Brittany and Daddy._

_I have to thank you giving me a lot of brothers and sisters, Santa but, I think you gave me too many! There's the twins, who are five, Theo and Thea, and are a handful. Mommy Brittany didn't like the fact that they had three children and wanted one more to round us out, (I don't know what that means,) so she and Daddy planned it all out but, lo and behold, instead of one baby, she had triplets, all girls, and they're identical too! Daddy said something about us being well rounded now. There's Lily, Rose and Marigold, they're now two and are very loud and boi-boisterous (I learned about that word too!) I love them but they're like me, Santa, Unmentionables, all five of them. I feel sorry for Daddy, cause when we don't want to be found, we don't get found. But I let myself get found because I love my Daddy and my Mommy!_

_Papi and Mommy Stephanie had another child too! They had a boy, five months ago and named him Frankie. I think he likes his name and he's very spoiled by all of us. Mommy Stephanie didn't carry him, they got another woman to carry him, they paid her to carry him, but he's still ours. I'm the oldest, so I have to look out for all of them. Sometimes, it's hard, specially with the twins and triplets, because of their gifts._

_Oh, yeah, speaking of Unmentionables, Diesel and me are still friends, best friends, in fact. He's 12 now, and he thinks that because he's 12, he can be the leader in a lot of the things we do, but I put him in his place from time to time. He thinks we should get married, when we get older. I have to keep reminding him that I'm gonna marry Marcus, when we grow up. He doesn't like it when I say that but he can bite my butt._

_Oh, that was rude, sorry Santa._

_I forgot to tell you, I'm in regular school now! Well, sort of, I still have problems with some of things we're learning, but I only go to a few special classes now, not like all the time when I was smaller. Dr. Ivan says that I'm smart but I have problems with spelling and thinking skills, or something. I go to a private school with Theo, Thea and Diesel. It's Diesel's last year there cause he's going to a different school next year. Mommy Brittany wants me to go to the school that Diesel's going to as well but Daddy wants me to stay in regular school for as long as possible, I don't know why._

_Oh, This letter is getting long, I'll write you next year, Santa, I bet you have a lot of letters to read, thank you again for giving me a big family, but you could have not given me so many brothers and sisters._

_Thank you again, love Heidi._

* * *

Simple and short, who knows what will happen next, off to the trash heap!


End file.
